DC Fire and Rescue 'Shoring Up' Watergate Garage Collapse to Check for Anyone Trapped

PHOTOS courtesy of T. Wall via Twitter; photo of construction workers outside building by @minhtran via Twitter; CD Hastings; photo with firetruck by @latoshamaria via Twitter

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DC Fire and Rescue officers are working to shore up the Watergate garage collapse Friday to look for anyone who may be trapped, says spokesman Tim Wilson.

“We don’t know of anyone trapped and we don’t know of anyone who is unaccounted for,” Wilson said at 12:30 p.m.

Officials are working to shore up the collapse before entering and that’s a “tedious process,” Wilson said.

As of now, Wilson said DC Fire and Rescue is not certain what caused the collapse. He said that talk of a sinkhole is unfounded and said he thinks that the collapse itself caused the appearance of a sinkhole.

The multiple-story underground parking garage collapsed Friday morning at 10 a.m. at the Watergate Office Building in the 2600 block of Virginia Avenue NW. Dozens of firefighters remain on the scene.

A woman could be seen being wheeled out on a gurney in a photo posted to social media. Montgomery County is sending in three search dogs to check the area, Wilson said, although he noted he had not seen them yet on the scene.

All construction workers have been accounted for but DC officials are waiting to check the area before saying whether there are any others possibly trapped in the debris, WTOP reports.

At least one car was reportedly destroyed by the collapse, Wilson said.

The Watergate office building was made famous for the burglary of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972 that brought about the downfall of former President Richard Nixon.

It’s unclear if the construction is related to a $125 million renovation of the Watergate Hotel.

Patch will update this story as we receive new information.