Woman dies as mall roof collapses under heavy snow in Ontario

larger   An aerial image of the Lambton Mall roof collapse in Sarnia, Ontario

From staff and wire reports

SARNIA, Ontario -- A woman was found dead after the roof of a mall collapsed under heavy snow Thursday morning, police said.

Officials at first feared that others were trapped in the debris, and specially trained rescue dogs were brought in to search for victims. But by mid-afternoon police were hopeful no others had been trapped.

Several other people were injured when the roof of the one-story Lambton Mall, Sarnia's largest, collapsed onto a Hallmark store about 8:30 a.m., said Sarnia Police Staff Sgt. Dave McCabe. The mall had just opened for business.

Rescue workers said the accident could have been much worse if it had occurred later in the day, when the shopping center would have been filled with Christmas shoppers.

It was unclear whether the victim was a mall employee, McCabe said.

Police dogs aid search

Sarnia police and fire officials had been searching for the woman under a mound of snow, aided by K-9 police dog units from the Port Huron, Michigan, Police Department across the St. Clair River.

Sarnia Fire Department Deputy Chief Bill Payne said he could not be certain of the exact cause of the accident. But he said it was reasonable to assume the roof collapsed under the weight of heavy snow. Rescue officials and structural engineers are to investigate the collapse.

Payne said he would not speculate on whether other buildings could be in danger of collapse.

"I think when you certainly have this much snow it could happen again, but I would hope this is an isolated incident," he said.

Much of central and eastern Canada have been under a blanket of snow since Monday, with two winter storms dumping 16 to 20 inches (40-50 cm) of snow over the region.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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