No sign of life found in building collapse into sinkhole

[Wayne Harrison]

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, August 27, 2007 - Hope fades for a St Michael family of five who remain buried for over 24 hours after they plunged with their apartment, as they slept, into a subterranean cavern when the roof of the cave, on which their home was constructed, collapsed early Sunday morning.

Three children aged one to seven were in the rubble with 30-year-old Donavera Codrington and his 27-year-old wife, Cassandra in Britton's Hill Cross Road, about three miles east of the capital Bridgetown. The fourth child, a three-month old was staying with relatives and was not at home at the time of the collapse.


<a href="http://www.caribbean360.com/News/Caribbean/Stories/2007/08/27/NEWS0000004813.html">via Caribbean 360</a>

[Wayne Harrison]

The significant part of Day 4 was spent stabilizing and preparing the cave for the extraction of the bodies of the Codrington family presumed to be dead. Two large boulders which were a threat to the safety of rescuers were finally removed. Minister Dale Marshall in a late evening press conference advised that “the rescuers were entering what is the most challenging psychological part of this recovery effort. We have given them ideas of what they can expect and we hope that our efforts are successful”. The Rescue Team is currently removing rubble from the cavern.

<a href="http://bajan.wordpress.com/2007/08/28/the-rescue-effort-at-brittons-hill-continues/">Via Barbados Underground</a>

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[wendy]

I have also read that an urban search and rescue team from Miami has gone down there to assist.