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Searchers sift rubble after roof of toy store collapsesAuthorities 'cautiously optimistic' no one trapped inside
LANHAM, Maryland (CNN) -- Search-and-rescue crews were sorting through the unstable wreckage of a Toys "R" Us store Saturday, looking for customers who might have been inside when the store's roof collapsed under the weight of rain and melting snow, officials said. Authorities are "cautiously optimistic" that no one is trapped inside. Prince George's County, Maryland, emergency services spokesman Mark Brady said early Saturday that a rescue dog had identified a scent in an area in the center of the store where witnesses said three to five people could be trapped. Two more canine units were sent into the building but did not pick up any scent that would indicate people are still inside, County Executive Jack Johnson told reporters. All 10 of the store's employees were accounted for. Three of them were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, store officials said. Area hospitals reported treating seven patients. A spokesperson at Doctors Community Hospital in Lanham said five people were treated there for minor injuries and released. Prince George's Hospital Center in Cheverly, Maryland, reported receiving two patients but had no information on their condition. About 90 percent of the building's roof collapsed, Brady said. Only the section above the front entrance and checkout area remained intact. From the front, the building appeared unblemished. "Firefighters have done a preliminary search of the building, but because of the instability we had to pull them out," Brady said. Toys "R" Us officials said traffic in the store had been light Saturday morning, when the collapse occurred, and drivers of all the cars in the parking lot had been accounted for. Still, authorities expressed concern that residents of nearby apartment complexes might have walked to the store. Officials said the shopping center was evacuated.
Using tall ladders to peer over the still-standing front wall, searchers worked under a steady downpour that was dropping nearly an inch of rain per hour to the area. The collapse occurred shortly before noon, Brady said, "in the middle of a torrential rainstorm." "According to employees that were inside they store, the only notice they got was just seconds prior to the collapse, when they heard a noise like a train going by," Brady said. The rain, along with about 2 feet of snow that fell in the area last week, has stressed roofs across the state.
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