Victims' bodies still at New Orleans Hard Rock Hotel months after collapse

[turbinetree]

Source: The Guardian

Wind blows tarp off one of two bodies amid ruins
Unstable building to be imploded in March

Three months after the partial collapse of the Hard Rock hotel construction site on the tip of New Orleans’s historic French Quarter, a macabre reminder of the tragedy that claimed three lives was visible to passersby this week.

Among the collapsed building’s twisted remains and rubble, the dangling legs of a wedged corpse were revealed to the public after a tarpaulin sheet covering the body was blown away by wind.

The gruesome sight came as city officials are scrambling to dismantle the 18-storey, 350-room hotel, which remains an eyesore and still holds the trapped remains of two workers, Quinnyon Wimberly and José Ponce Arreola.

After images of the exposed corpse provoked outrage on social media, city firefighters installed a new tarp on Wednesday afternoon. As of Thursday morning the covering remained intact, as police maintained a heavy presence around the collapsed building.

The mayor of New Orleans, LaToya Cantrell, urged members of the public and the media not to photograph or share images of the body.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/23/new-orleans-hard-rock-hotel-body-collapse

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are you fucking serious........................

[redstatebluegirl]

1. Want to bet they are hispanic?

If they were white they would have gotten them out by now.

[turbinetree]

2. That is just disgusting.........................what they are doing to those bodies.................

[Jirel]

6. Hold up a second.

It's horrible that the bodies are still in there. But what would you like to do instead, when the building is a criminally unstable disaster zone? Do you consider a high risk of death to whoever gets sent up to have to CUT AWAY broken and collapsed concrete and metal to free the bodies a reasonable risk? One or more serious injuries or deaths to retrieve the body of someone whose body is of no use to themselves any more? We want to honor the dead and give comfort to the families, but it makes no sense to trade another life or severe injury for that. If it was possible to do reasonably safely, it would've been done.

[USALiberal]

8. I assume they do not want someone else killed trying to retrieve the body. nt

[fleur-de-lisa]

5. Nonsense. There is no way to get the bodies out safely at this point.

They don't even know where one of the two is located. The second body is trapped under heavy debris many floors above street level.

New Orleans is a very blue city and extremely welcoming to immigrants. This tragedy has taken a toll on my city and the last thing we need is for outsiders to spread baseless rumors.

[mahina]

11. Why I love DU. I would not ever have heard your perspective otherwise.

Your post makes perfect sense. Thank you.

[Shrike47]

7. Quinnyon's black. Your argument holds up; another minority.

[Hekate]

14. And Mayor LaToya?

As long as we're playing the ethnicity game.

[fleur-de-lisa]

16. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is black.

She has been hands-on since the hotel collapsed. She gives press conferences several times a week, along with other local department heads, to update the public on the plans to retrieve the bodies and demolish the hotel.

The argument that this is about race is bullshit.

[marble falls]

9. One hispanic, one black.

[Jirel]

3. A pity, but not unrealistic to expect this.

The building is incredibly unstable. They have no idea, right now, how they're going to get the bodies out without killing the people sent up to do it. Heck, they don't know how they'll get the building down without creating a lot more danger and damage to nearby buildings. It sucks that the body is no longer covered, and **if possible** to do so safely, they should at least try to cover them up again while they figure out how to get the bodies out and the building down.

Edit: The building demolition is now slated for MAY because it is much worse than they thought. To do it, they are seeking permits to take down 3 more nearby buildings. Yeah, that bad.
https://www.nola.com/news/article_6a354d5e-2378-11ea-bf29-c314fc7d4692.html

[marble falls]

10. The plan is to drop the build and recover the remains.

[likesmountains 52]

4. There is a march plannned for tomorrow.

#HardRockCollapseMarch. They plan on marching from the collapse site, to City Hall.

[Blue_Tires]

12. If someone can put a tarp up there, why not get the bodies?

[hack89]

13. They probably used a crane

And didn’t touch the steel structure. To remove the body you are going to have to put people on the structure and cut/move a lot of heavy debris.

And they have no idea where the second body is. It is not visible.

[MicaelS]

15. The dead are dead.

They feel nothing, know nothing. No use in risking lives to recover two corpses. Race has nothing to do with it.

[Roy Rolling]

18. Failure of Leadership--From New Orleans

There is no progress on demolishing the building in months, while managers and financiers sit on their ass trying to find the cheapest way. It was ignoring whistleblower complaints about the building worsened the disaster, and then deporting the whistleblower. If they weren’t looking for the cheapest labor this would be solved. Always looking to save their precious money, while a hulk of a building stays untouched in the French Quarter.

It’s time for unions to take over the site and dismantle it piece-by-piece.

“But isn’t that dangerous?” Fucking-A it is, that’s why you pay hazard wages for people to risk their lives. Construction workers aren’t afraid, they aren’t crybabies like the owners of these zones. Pay them for their risk, isn’t that how capitalism works?

Where are our union voices? Because our political leaders and developers have failed us.

[Keira21]

19. Victims' bodies still at New Orleans Hard Rock Hotel months after collaps

Last edited Sat Jan 25, 2020, 02:12 AM - Edit history (1)

There is no advancement on crushing the structure in months, while directors and agents sit on their can attempting to locate the least expensive way. It was disregarding informant grievances about the structure declined the catastrophe, and afterward ousting the informant. On the off chance that they weren't searching for the least expensive work this would be unraveled. Continually hoping to set aside their valuable cash, while a mass of a structure remains immaculate in the French Quarter.MyBKExperience

[revolutionbrees]

20. I hate driving downtown.

Quinnyon Wimberly's fiancee said that she had been told by attorneys for the developer and by city officials that they were unable to locate either body. There was speculation why the original red tarp was in place and she was shocked when she saw the photos on social media. Of course, that may be José Ponce Arreola's remains, but sickening in either case.

The collapse has turned into another tourist attraction. Our neighbors had family in for the College Football Championship and they all left early so they could stop by and see the Hard Rock. Sickening!!!!!