Iowa building collapse: Bodies of three men recovered

  • By Brandon Drenon
  • BBC News, Washington

Image source, Scott Olson

Image caption, The 100-year-old building was the source of numerous complaints

The bodies of three men have been recovered from the rubble of a six-story apartment building in Iowa, officials have said, more than a week after it collapsed.

Officials named the men as Branden Colvin, 42, Ryan Hitchcock, 51, and Daniel Prien, 60.

No-one else is known to be missing from the site of the cave-in on 28 May.

The former hotel had been the subject of numerous complaints from residents about its deteriorating condition.

Mr Colvin's body was recovered on Saturday, followed by Mr Hitchcock's on Sunday and Mr Prien's early on Monday.

City officials had previously said there was a "high probability" the men were in the building at the time of the collapse.

But rescue efforts were hampered by the building's precarious condition in the aftermath of its partial collapse.

At a press conference on Monday, Jeffery Bladel, Davenport police chief, said city and state agencies were still investigating.

One resident, Dayna Feuerbach, has filed a lawsuit alleging multiple counts of negligence.

"The city had warning after warning," Ms Feuerbach's attorney told the Associated Press news agency.

Documents from the city show that both officials and the building's owner had been warned for months that parts of the building were unstable.

Repair work on the structure, built as a hotel in 1907, was ongoing at the time of the collapse, the New York Times reported.