One dead, one rescued in downtown Sioux Falls building collapse

A historic downtown building undergoing major renovations collapsed Friday morning, killing a construction worker and trapping a woman from an upstairs apartment under rubble for hours.

Firefighters specially trained to mount rescues in collapsed structures pulled one survivor from the debris about 1:30 p.m., three hours after the building at 10th Street and Phillips Avenue went down at about 10:30 a.m. She was identified as 22-year-old Emily Fodness, whose parents lived in the upstairs apartment.

Cheers from hundreds of onlookers erupted as firefighters brought her down in a stretcher and loaded her into an ambulance.

Family members were in contact with the woman after the collapse, and rescuers had a good idea of where she was located. The search for a second person, a construction worker, lasted until nearly 6 p.m., when crews were able to recover the man's body. His mother identified him in a public Facebook post as Ethan McMahon.

Read more: http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2016/12/02/one-dead-one-rescued-downtown-building-collapse/94821244/