Sioux Falls search and rescue crews recovered the body of a man trapped in a collapsed building. Fire Rescue chief Jim Sideras says crews found the body in a void just before 6 p.m. Friday.
The frenzy in Downtown Sioux Falls slowed as rescue efforts changed to recovery work. Fire fighters stood unmoving near a response vehicle. They watched silently as several of the colleagues worked calmly digging through the rubble pile and eventually removing a man's body from the wreckage.
Fire Chief Jim Sideras says search crews narrowed down the area where they hoped to find the man, and they used scent dogs. He says the structure collapsed around the man, and he died.
"We're always hoping for the best, plan for the worst, and kind of deal with the cards that were dealt, and this just wasn't... We were hoping for the best, and it just didn't work out," Sideras says. "So our firefighters give it their all. They're trying as much as they could, and this isn't quite the ending that we wanted to have."
Earlier in the day, crews located and rescued a 22-year-old woman from underneath the debris. She lived in a home above the commercial space on ground level, which was under construction.
