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The roof was used for parking at the two-story Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, about 335 miles northwest of Toronto. CBC News quoted a witness as saying cars had plunged through the roof.
"You can see the roof with the cars hanging inside," Joe Drazil, identified as a Zellers employee at the mall, told the CBC.
Mayor Rick Hamilton told CBC that four people were taken to the hospital. A fire official reached by Reuters said emergency workers were still searching for possible victims.
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Cora Richer / The Canadian Press via AP
A woman checks out the damage after a roof collapsed at the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ontario, on Saturday
Mall manager Rhonda Bear told CBC News that repairs had been done to the roof over the last year, but not "any huge structural repairs" to the part that collapsed. She also told CBC that the mall owners, Toronto-based Eastwood Mall Inc., ordered a structural study a month ago that she said turned up nothing.
But the CBC said the Elliot Lake Standard newspaper has reported that the mall had had roof leaks for years.
This article includes reporting by msnbc.com staff and Reuters.
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Leave a Comment:
Hopefully there are no fatalities. Maybe it is time to build a new mall, anyway.
Somebody didn't make the right repairs.
Most mall owners are so cheap, that they charge their tenants up their wha hoo and never put a dime back.
Ok - so why did the owners spend money on a structural study last month? Did they know (or suspect) that there was a problem - and the 'white-wash' inspection was a bit of legal insurance?
Canadain News? What gives? huh something happen in Canada? Well thats news in it self!
Lots of things happen in Canada, we just don't tell anyone.
don't be a dork
Wake up Norm a lot of things happen in Canada
"She also told CBC that the mall owners, Toronto-based Eastwood Mall Inc., ordered a structural study a month ago that she said turned up nothing."
I smell a lawsuit. Whoever did the study better be getting all their ducks in a row ASAP. Also the management of Eastwood Mall Inc. better read and reread the report from the study because I guarantee it will be looked at extensively in conjunction with the lawsuits.
I hope that there are no more "potential victims" to be found and that the injured recover fully and quickly.
Maybe its good it happened when it did.. imagine how bad it would have been in winter with 4 feet of snow around xmess.
Probably the same thing that happened to that shopping center in South Korea some years back where the roof was weakened to the point that the columns simply pushed through it as it fell. Hope no one was killed this time around.
the sampoong dept store in korea illegally removed and put in narrower columns ,then built a huge in ground pool on the roof after,it collapsed under the huge added weight from the water as well as the huge esclator
there is no substitute for proper construction and maintanence.
Holmes on Homes needs to move on to Canadian malls.
DUHH! Sounds LIKE Those Structural Studies FLUNKED! Not the Mall Owners!
I know it happened in Canada, but it's Bush's fault.
You're an idiot.
Somebody doesn't get sarcasm,or it's nap time!
Maybe Obama can go over to Canada and have a Mall Summit.
You're a bigger idiot.
Nap time!
Canada is pro gay marriage... that explains it all.
You're a ginormous idiot.
Did Eric Holder know about this faulty mall roof?
Have you ever considered conseling for injecting politics into a Canadian roof collapse?
Whoever inspected the roof is in deep doo doo. Really deep.
so deep the Mounties can't even find it
so deep, the Mounties won't be able to find them either
The RCMP are dealing with enough internal problems currently that they must have to work very hard for the public's respect and support. Have you read or watched any of the reports on numerous harassment issues being brought forth? It's not pretty.
Hope the injured parties in this roof collapse recover quickly.
One too many over-sized SUV's and PRESTO - Sky Light!
I think it was Hugh from Ice road truckers,that dumb a$$ was lost again.
I have inspected several mid rise parking structures. It starts with the design, the loads imposed, the grade of steel, and the installation process. There are a lot of things to look at and the flaws will come out with a professional investigation. It is fortunate that nobody died.
"...in Canada?"
Why doesn't the headline say in Ontario?
If it was in South Carolina they wouldn't have said in the United States.
As someone who live in Quebec for many years and who is married to a Canadian, I have had this conversation many times:
"We are [doing such and such in, or going to such and such in] Canada.'
"Where in Canada?"
"In Canada!"
"Canada is a big country, you gotta be more specific than that."
"Oh, ah...[confusion, cuz they don't know!]
First sentence:
At least four people were injured when the roof of a shopping mall in Ontario, Canada, collapsed Saturday afternoon, officials said.
Second sentence:
The roof was used for parking at the two-story Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, about 335 miles northwest of Toronto.
I think they made themselves clear about where and when.
wonder how they will get the rest of the cars off the roof without messing them up ,they are going to have to pay up a bundle for damages as well as loss of use for the drivers stuck without their cars
Tragically, two people died. They just found their bodies this morning amongst the rubble.