Building Facade Collapses Trapping People Inside

Temple City, Los Angeles County, CA: A facade of a building collapsed late Wednesday afternoon trapping people inside until firefighters arrived.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department was dispatched at approximately 4:00 p.m. May 25, for a structure collapse on the 9400 block of East Las Tunas Drive in the city of Temple City, according to the department.

Upon arrival, firefighters discovered a 50 foot section of facade had collapsed trapping six people; five were trapped inside a nail salon and one was trapped inside the cleaners, said Ruben Muñoz, Public Information Officer for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, at the scene.

Muñoz said the reason for entrapment was due to debris that fell down in front of the doorway. LACoFD Heavy Rescue responded to the scene to pull out the debris from the walkway and were able to get people out in about 20 minutes.

The cause of the collapse is under investigation. The Department of Building and Safety also responded to the scene.

Video: Jack Reynolds, Photojournalist / KNN