'I Told You She Wasn't Dead': Iowa Crowd Erupts as Woman Spotted a Day After Partial Building Collapse
A crowd of people gathered close to a six-story apartment building in Davenport, Iowa, on May 29 to witness the rescue of a woman from the fourth floor, with the woman being spotted a day after the building had partially collapsed.
Footage captured by local woman Lorraine Blair on May 29 shows a crowd react excitedly as the woman appears at the window before concerns are raised as she pushes a screen from her window down to the ground.
Cries from the crowd, including a plea to call the police and someone shouting, “I told you she wasn’t dead” can be heard.
In a 27-minute Facebook Live video from the scene shot by Blair, the crowd pleads with the woman to stay where she is before the Davenport Fire Department arrives to rescue her from the building.
Local media reported that the stranded woman’s name was Lisa Brooks and that she had called her daughter to alert her to her presence on the fourth floor of the building, which triggered the gathering of people beneath her window.
According to the Quad City Times, Brooks was taken to a hospital following her rescue.
A statement from the City of Davenport Government confirmed that on Monday “local medical professionals located and extricated a victim,” and that “due to the nature of her injuries and entrapment, extraction took an extended period of time.”
In a press conference on May 29, prior to the rescue featured here, Davenport Fire Chief Michael Carlsten said eight people had been rescued from the wreckage and no deaths were reported
Firefighters discovered a large natural gas leak and a water leak at the building, but the cause of the collapse was not immediately clear. Credit: Lorraine Blair via Storyful
Video transcript
- Wooo.
- Yeah!
- Oh, my gosh.
- Oh, my gosh.
- She is alive!
- Don't move yet. Stay there. Please stay there!
- Oh, my gosh.
- What do you mean go get a cop?
- To go get my grandma!
- Did anybody call the police yet? Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Don't move! Don't move!
[CROWD YELLING]
- I told y'all she wasn't dead.
- We got a cop. He just came right here.
- Told ya she wasn't dead!
- Wooo.
- Yeah!
- Oh, my gosh.
- Oh, my gosh.
- She is alive.
- Don't move yet! Stay there! Please stay there!
- Oh, my gosh.
- What do you mean go get a cop?
- To go get my grandma!
- Did anybody call the police yet?
- Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Don't move! Don't move!
[CROWD YELLING]
- I told y'all she wasn't dead!
- We got a cop. He just came right here.
- Told ya she wasn't dead!