PHILADELPHIA, June 5 (UPI) -- Six people were killed and 13 injured when a building collapsed and a building next door partially fell Wednesday in downtown Philadelphia, WCAU-TV reported.
Citing sources it did not identify, KYW-TV, Philadelphia, said the first body recovered was that of a 35-year-old woman found inside a Salvation Army thrift store. A second body was found shortly before 8 p.m., and about 15 minutes later a third body was pulled from the debris, the TV station said.
Three more bodies were pulled from the rubble Wednesday evening, bringing the death toll to at least six, WCAU-TV said.
City Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers said those rescued were in stable condition at various hospitals with minor to moderate injuries, the TV station said.
Philly.com reported a four-story structure that housed a closed sandwich shop on the first floor and apartments above collapsed at 22nd and Market streets. The back wall of the Salvation Army thrift shop also tumbled.
The noise of the buildings collapsing sounded like a "freight train," a witness told Philly.com.
A police spokeswoman said there was no explosion and called it "an industrial accident," Philly.com said.
A Fire Department official confirmed there did not appear to have been an explosion and said construction workers were demolishing one of the buildings, Philly.com said.
"All of a sudden, I heard a rumble and the ground shake, so I immediately took off the other way," Kate Slyman, who was walking nearby, told KYW-TV. "And about 15 minutes later, I heard sirens."
Rescuers dug through the debris looking for survivors.
