Worker dies after partial collapse of Chicago building

CHICAGO (AP) — A construction worker trapped under debris when a Chicago residential building partially collapsed has died, authorities said Thursday.

It took nearly an hour for rescuers to pull the worker from several feet (meters) of debris after the Thursday morning collapse at a vacant, three-story building in the Bronzeville residential district south of downtown, the Chicago Fire Department said.

The worker was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the worker was pronounced dead.

The worker’s identity wasn’t immediately released. Officials were investigating the cause of the collapse.

Julius Hall, 43, who lives a block away from the scene, told the Chicago Sun-Times that crews had been working on the building since the summer.

Footage from television stations showed a large hole in the side of the building with bricks, cinder blocks, wood and other debris in piles next to and inside the structure.