JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A parking garage at Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside on King Street partially collapsed Tuesday afternoon, damaging multiple cars and leaving others precariously tilted on the edge of the collapse, according to News 6 partner WJXT.
Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Cheif said there was “some kind of structural failure” in the parking garage around 12:15 p.m., but it wasn’t immediately clear what caused it.
For the next three hours, firefighters were conducting search and rescue efforts in the garage to see if anyone was trapped in the structure or in one of the 111 parked inside.
Powers said he is “pretty confident” that everyone is safe, but said he can’t say for sure that everyone is accounted for.
Multiple cars could be seen under the partial pancake collapse at 1824 King St. Sources told News4JAX that no one was in the cars under the collapsed portion of the garage.
The doctor’s building next to the garage was evacuated.
A witness told News4JAX he was checking in with the receptionist at about 12:15 p.m. when they heard a loud boom and felt the building shake. They evacuated the building about 10 minutes later, he said.
He said his car was still trapped on the first floor of the garage.
Aerials from the scene show a section of the third floor of the garage collapsed onto the second floor and at least one vehicle overturned on its side.
Another vehicle on the third floor is tilted precariously on the edge of the collapsed section.
Witness Velda Stokes told News4JAX there was a loud “Boom!” and when she came outside she saw the car on its side in the garage and “all hell broke loose.”
Witness Marcel said everyone was worried there might be people under the rubble.
“It was crazy. At first, we thought someone fell,” she said.
Another man described the scene saying he also felt the building shake and thought someone had run into the building.
“You only had one row of cars against the building and then just a drop-off where the drive lane is below. Everything dropped down,” he said.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said the area of King Street and St. Johns Avenue is closed off because of “an industrial accident.”
The St. Vincent’s Emergency Room entrance is closed.
News4JAX has crews at the scene and we will update as more information becomes available.