City of New Orleans officials today announced that because of weather delays and trouble with some robotic equipment, the contractor on the demolition of the Hard Rock construction collapse says it will not recover the bodies of two workers trapped in the rubble this week.
"The equipment issues are related to the robot that they were planning to utilize to the hanging debris which causes a risk to the first responders," said New Orleans Fire Department Superintendent Tim McConnell. "It makes it very dangerous. The contractor informed the city that they were working to resolve the issue."
Chief McConnell said the contractor did not provide a new timeline on the recovery.
The bodies of Quinnyon Wimberly and Jose Ponce Arreola have been trapped in the rubble since the October 12, 2019 collapse.