12 hurt when building collapses in Boise

A dozen people were injured Wednesday after a serious collapse at a hangar being built near the airport in Boise, Idaho, a fire official said.

Boise Fire Operations Chief Aaron Hummel would not say if anyone was killed in the collapse and did provide the conditions of those injured, saying that officials were working to contact family members.

The collapse happened about 5 p.m. at a structure where the rigid steel frame had been erected, Hummel told reporters.

“There was a large-scale collapse of the building, the framework of the building,” he said. “I don’t know what caused it, but I can tell you it was a pretty global collapse.”

The collapse was under investigation Wednesday night, and an Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigator was on the scene, Hummel said.

The efforts to get people out of the collapsed building was a complicated task in some cases, and included using hoists, he said.

The 12 people injured were in or around the building, Hummel said. More than 30 people were on site when the collapse occurred, he said.

The crane was placing something on the structure at the time of the collapse, he said.