Six people were freed after being trapped for about an hour in a Temple City strip mall after a façade collapsed inexplicably Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
The incident was reported in the 9000 block of East Las Tunas Avenue at 4:07 p.m., according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. First responders found that a 50-foot section of a strip mall’s façade had collapsed and trapped people inside of a hair salon and dry cleaners, fire officials said.
Firefighters were able to communicate with the people trapped inside and learned that no one had been injured in the incident, authorities said.
Justin Han was in the hair salon about to get his hair cut when he felt what he said was like “an earthquake,” he said in an interview with independent news service RMG News.
“You just started hearing these creaking noises when suddenly the entire (façade) just collapsed,” Han said. “Everyone just started running to the back (of the salon) but luckily no one was hurt.”
By 5:06 p.m., the six people were freed from inside, fire officials said. Once heavy rescue equipment arrived, the rescue efforts took 20 minutes, Ruben Muñoz, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, said in an interview with RMG News.
It wasn’t immediately known what caused the façade to collapse, the Fire Department said.
#HappeningNow building collapsed near 9000 block E Las Tunas Ave @ConnectwithTC. 6 trapped, no injuries. @LACoFDPIO on scene. pic.twitter.com/iN0zCSQkJY
— LASD Temple Station (@TEMLASD) May 25, 2022