Woman killed in Philadelphia building collapse

A woman and at least 13 people have been injured in an accident in Philadelphia that at least one witness said was bound to happen.

A building that was being demolished collapsed with a thunderous boom, raining bricks on a neighbouring charity shop.

The woman who died was 35, the city's mayor said.

Rescuers pulled another woman, trapped amid the rubble of a Salvation Army shop, after they heard her voice, city fire commissioner Lloyd Ayers said, and the search for survivors continued hours after yesterday’s collapse.

Rescuers were using buckets and bare hands to move the rubble to search for survivors.

“I was standing there looking out my window, watching the men at work on the building, and the next thing I know I heard something go 'Kaboom',” Veronica Haynes said.

Roofer Patrick Glynn said he had been watching workers take down the building over the past few weeks, and he said he suspected a collapse was inevitable because of the methods the workers were using to tear it down.

Carlton Williams of the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections said there were no existing violations on the building, and the demolition company had proper permits for the work.