(Reuters) - Canadian rescue teams on Sunday were preparing to search for anyone trapped when a rooftop parking lot collapsed into a northern Ontario shopping mall, sending at least one car plunging into the retail shops below.
At least 22 people were injured in the collapse Saturday at the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, about 335 miles (540 km) northwest of Toronto, city officials said.
Authorities said they have compiled a list of people who have been reported missing in the area.
The collapse occurred on Saturday afternoon, when the mall is typically crowded with weekend shoppers. It sent concrete and metal raining into the two-story mall below and left a gaping hole in the roof.
"It happened so fast," Elaine Quinte, owner of Hungry Jack's restaurant in the mall, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. "All of a sudden I started getting hit by some of the rubble. I turned around. I saw other people in the food court running out of the doors. ... There was instantly so much dust, first you saw, and then you didn't."
None of the 22 people treated at local hospitals sustained life-threatening injuries, the city said in a statement Sunday.
Emergency teams suspended work Saturday because of unsafe conditions, but resumed in the evening. It was not clear if by Sunday afternoon, crews had stabilized the site sufficiently to enter the mall with search dogs.
One vehicle fell through the roof into the mall, Kate Matuszewski, a spokeswoman for the city near Lake Huron's remote northern shore.
Overhead photos taken soon after the collapse showed several vehicles remained parked on the undamaged part of the rooftop lot. The collapse opened up a large, rectangular space and a clear view of the retail space below.
(Reporting by Frank McGurty; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
Reuters
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