Was Someone Inside Building When It Was Demolished?

Nov. 15, 2007 — -- Rescue crews are searching the wreckage of a demolished Houston hotel after a video of the demolition raised concerns that someone may have been inside the building when it was destroyed.

A Crowne Plaza Hotel in the Texas Medical Center in Houston was destroyed Sunday. A video of the demolition taken by a passerby and handed over to the police appears to show a door in the hotel closing just before the building imploded.

It is not clear how or why the door closed or whether someone was inside the building when it went down.

Police and members of the demolition company were searching the wreckage Thursday, but had not found anything by early afternoon, said Officer Gabe Ortiz of the Houston Police Department.

Ortiz said police were still examining the video and were not sure what it showed.

"We're still looking at the video and trying to determine whether it was something or someone," he said.

Ortiz said the police search was not an official investigation and that police were assisting the demolition company, Cherry Demolition.

Leonard Cherry, an owner of Cherry Demolition, said in a statement, "We are working diligently with the officers of the police department. We certainly hope that this is not true, but are cooperating in any way that we can."

Jack Stivers of Cherry Demolition said he did not know whether a person was inside the building or how a person could gain access to the building before it was destroyed.

A spokesman for Crowne Plaza said the demolished hotel was a locally owned franchise and that the company was not involved in arranging the demolition.