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Building collapses in Medan city center
A building in Medan collapsed and one person was reportedly injured from the rubble.
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JP/Apriadi Gunawan
Officials from the National Search and Rescue Agency search for victims in the rubble of a collapsed building in Medan on Monday. (JP/Apriadi Gunawan)
A building that housed a popular cafe in the center of Medan, North Sumatra, collapsed on Monday night.
Medan Police chief Sr. Comr. Dadang Hartanto said there had been one injured victim rescued from the rubble. The victim lived next to the collapsed building.
“The victim's back was injured because of the falling debris,” he told the press at the site.
The building, which was located right across from the popular Ring Road City Walk shopping mall, was home to the Big White Coffee cafe as well as the Venezia family massage parlor.
Bayu, a foreman who was overseeing construction on the site, said that the building was undergoing renovation and had been closed to visitors for the past two days.
The cafe was a popular hangout site for young people, leading the proprietors to want to add two floors to the three-story building.
Bayu said that construction of the fourth floor had just finished and that all the construction workers had left the site at 5 p.m. He claimed the building collapsed at around 7 p.m, while other bystanders said they saw it collapse at 6:30 p.m. The building was completely leveled.
At the time of writing, several ambulances and police personnel had arrived at the site but recovery had started.
The cause for the collapse remains unclear. (yan)
