国际英语新闻：Parking garage collapse in U.S. state of NJ, at least 1 person trapped

HACKENSACK, the United States, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Emergency responders worked hours on Friday to reach at least one person trapped in a collapse involving a glass canopy and an underground parking garage at a high-rise apartment building in Hackensack, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, officials said.

There had been reports as many as three people were trapped, but only one victim has been located, Lt. Stephen Lindner of the Hackensack Fire Department told reporters. However, he added no additional people had been reported missing although there was concern there could be additional victims.

Reporters at the scene said officials feared the possibility of additional victims after viewing video surveillance tapes recorded just before the collapse showing an auto in a now-collapsed driveway.

The condition of the sole victim located in a trapped car was not immediately known. The identity was withheld.

"We're doing everything we can to get to that victim," Lindner said. "It's a very slow, labor-intensive process."

A steel and glass canopy of the Prospect Towers apartment building, creating an atrium-like environment, fell, witnesses told reporters from The Record, of Bergen, NJ, on NorthJersey.com. At least two floors of an underground garage underneath the canopy were pancaked.

The accident happened shortly after 10 a.m. (EDT) at 300 Prospect Ave., a spokesman for the Hackensack Fire Department told Xinhua. "Multiple units from numerous departments around the area have responded."

First responders, searching in temperatures at about 35 Celsius during the afternoon, had to move gingerly for fear of touching off further collapse. Lumber was called for to aid in shoring up debris and nearly eight hours after the collapse a truck load of lumber was at the scene and power saws were heard in operation, local media reports said.

Nearby buildings were evacuated immediately after the collapse and about 300 residents of Prospect Towers were told they may not be allowed to return until Saturday at the earliest, they said.

The neighborhood where the incident occurred is tree-lined and described as upscale.

Hackensack is about 15 kilometers west of New York City.