Mall parking deck collapes, 1 dead, 21 injured www.privateofficer.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. DEc. 6, 2007 — A portion of parking deck at a busy shopping mall collapsed Thursday, and a motorist who may have triggered the accident by crashing into the structure died, police said.The woman's car crashed into the edge of the top level of the parking deck at SouthPark Mall, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police spokeswoman Julie Hill said.A small portion of the three-tier deck then collapsed, and the driver's car fell through the opening, Hill said.The woman was pronounced dead at the scene, said Mecklenburg EMS Agency spokesman Eric Morrison.Two cars under the collapsed concrete were destroyed, Charlotte Fire Department Capt. Rob Brisley said, but authorities said there were no other injuries."I think it's miraculous, quite honest," Hill said.Officials are investigating the cause.Lorraine Ayala, 63, of Monroe, said she left the mall to find the parking deck collapsed just above her ground-level parking space."It makes you question the structure of these buildings," Ayala said.Meanwhile, a parking garage under construction in Jacksonville, Fla., partially collapsed Thursday, injuring about two dozen people, officials said.One person was missing, but police did not know whether the worker was trapped or had escaped. Crews with dogs were looking through the rubble.Misty Skipper, a spokeswoman for Mayor John Peyton, said that early searches had turned up nothing, but that they would continue until searchers were certain that nobody was trapped.At least 21 people were taken to hospitals, which reported three in fair condition, two in good condition and the rest stable or released.The collapse occurred as workers were pouring concrete on the sixth floor of the garage for a condominium complex across the street from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office."I heard a crack, and then it just crumbled," Rick Caldwell, a construction worker, told The Florida Times-Union.The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.