A body was recovered from the wreckage of the New Orleans Hard Rock hotel 10 months after it collapsed
- A man's body was recovered from a Hard Rock Hotel construction site that collapsed last October, Nola.com reported.
- Quinnyon Wimberly was one of three workers killed in the collapse. His body was removed from the site on Saturday, after his remains laid in the wreck for 10 months.
- City officials, firefighters, and family members gathered as crews removed his body from the 11th floor.
A man's body was retrieved 10 months after a collapse at a Hard Rock hotel construction site in New Orleans.
Nola.com reported that Quinnyon Wimberly's body was removed from the 11th floor out the debris of the hotel site on Saturday. The 36-year-old was one of three construction workers killed when the hotel collapsed last October. According to the report, city officials, firefighters, recovery crews, and family members gathered as Wimberly's body was recovered from a platform.
The removal of Wimberly's body from the site was postponed for weeks due to the contractor's concerns, according to Nola.com. The outlet reported that a tarp that was shielding Wimberly's body blew off in January, exposing his legs and sparking backlash about the body's delayed removal.
"The red tarp. The black tarp. I turn my head or close my eyes," Irene Wimberly told Nola.com. "I couldn't take knowing he was under that."
"It's going to be hard to say good-bye to him," Frank Wimberly said Friday, according to the report. "I wouldn't wish this on anybody. It's hard."
It is still unknown when the body of a second worker, 63-year-old Jose Ponce Arreola, will be recovered from the wreck. New Orleans Fire Department Chief Tom McConnell said it will be "way more difficult and complex," according to the outlet. The body of the third worker, Anthony Magrette, was removed from the seventh floor one day after the incident.
In a press conference on Saturday, Mayor LaToya Cantrell addressed Wimberly's removal and stood in support for the families affected by this incident, Nola.com reported.
"This has been a long journey," she said. "But the longest journey has been for the families mostly impacted by this collapse ... It was an intolerable wait."
According to the report, Wimberly's body will be cremated and split amongst his family members.