Woman rescued from collapsed Iowa building was hiding under her couch for 24 hour

A woman who had been hiding under her couch for a full day after a six-story apartment building in Iowa collapsed was rescued on Monday - as officials plan to demolish what remains even though five people are still missing.

Lisa Brooks, 52, stayed inside the building in Davenport, Iowa, petrified for an entire day before calling her daughter to let her know she was inside and alive, authorities said.

Video captured by locals showed a crowd pleading with the woman to stay where she was before the Fire Department arrived to rescue her from the fourth floor of the building.

But the good news was followed by protest as on Tuesday around 150 residents gathered at the site of the collapse in objection to the forthcoming demolition of the unstable building. 

Protesters held signs saying 'Find Them First' and 'Who is in the Rubble?' Some used a megaphone to shout out the names of residents. The building had 53 tenants in about 80 units, the police chief said. 

Five people were still missing on Tuesday after a six-story apartment building partially collapsed in Davenport, Iowa, on Sunday

Davenport police officers form a line opposite protesters that are advocating for search efforts to continue on Tuesday and objecting to the demolition

Five people were still missing on Tuesday afternoon, Davenport Mayor Mike Matson announced. The bodies of two people may be in a pile of rubble at the site of the partially collapsed building.

The 116-year-old brick and steel structure, built as a hotel, had more recently been used as apartments, and tenants had been allowed to remain even as bricks began falling from the building.

Patricia Brooks said her sister, Lisa, attempted to leave the building but rushed back to her bathtub where she thought she could shelter safely.

Brooks spoke with her sister when she was being evaluated at the hospital after the rescue.

'It was just exhausting and a nightmare,' Chicago resident Patricia Brooks said of the period before Lisa's rescue.

The family begged police and city officials to find Lisa in the apartment starting  on Sunday, said daughter Porshia Brooks.

'They allegedly did a sweep and said they didn't find anybody,' said Porshia Brooks of Moline, Illinois. 'They're trying to tear the building down without doing a proper sweep.'

Lisa Brooks, 52, stayed inside the building in fear for an entire day before contacting her daughter to let her know she was inside and alive

Davenport Mayor Mike Matson gives an update to media, residents and onlookers after the building partially collapsed

The bodies of two people may be in a pile of rubble at the site of the partially collapsed building, Davenport city officials said on Tuesday 

Officials now say immediate demolition was never intended, but they did want to quickly stage the site for the tear-down. Pictured is an emergency worker on the site on Sunday 

Fire Marshal James Morris said removing the debris that is propping up the rest of the building could cause further collapse 

After the partial collapse, the city had announced plans to begin demolishing the building as early as Tuesday morning, but that was delayed after the rescue of Brooks.

Officials now say immediate demolition was never intended, but they did want to quickly stage the site for the tear-down.

The woman's rescue prompted officials to see if they could safely enter and ensure others weren't inside, but that is extremely difficult when the building could collapse at any time, they said.

'This could be a place of rest for some of the unaccounted,' Matson said.

The city is trying to determine how to bring down what remains of the building while maintaining the dignity of people who may have been killed, he said.

Fire Marshal James Morris said explosives will not be used on the building, which is near other structures.

A relative of one of the missing pleaded at a news conference for people to understand that authorities want to control the tear-down without dumping more material onto the rubble.

'I plead with our community to let the city do their job,' the woman said, adding that her relative wouldn't want any more lives put at risk.

The building is 'unstable and continues to worsen,' Morris said.

A structural engineer says searches should be avoided near the debris because more could collapse, and officials are considering that assessment before searching inside again.

Morris said removing the debris that is propping up the rest of the building could cause further collapse.

'We're very sympathetic to the possibility that there's two people' still left inside, Morris said as he fought back tears.

Emergency crews work the scene of a partial building collapse in Davenport on Sunday

Crews worked late into the night searching the rubble for survivors of the collapse

City officials said rescue crews escorted 12 people from the building shortly after a middle section collapsed at about 5pm on Sunday and rescued several others, including one person who was taken to safety overnight on Sunday.

'There was a lot of screams, a lot of cries, a lot of people saying "Help!" when the building came down,' Tadd Mashovec, a building resident, told KCCI-TV.

'But that did not last, and two or three minutes, and then the whole area was silent.'

On Monday morning, Fire Chief Michael Carlsten said 'no known individuals are trapped.'

The city then issued a statement saying that the owner was served on Monday with a demolition order and the process which was going to begin on Tuesday morning.

That was delayed after the rescue of the woman raised questions about the plans to demolish so soon.

'We had no indications from any of the responders that we had, any of the canines, any of the tools at the time' that there was anyone else left alive in the building, Morris said.

Fire crews who arrived at the scene said they found a water leak and a gas leak, though it is unclear whether either of those leaks led to the collapse

Police blocked off the downtown roads around the Davenport apartment building

It's unclear what caused the collapse that left a gaping hole in the center of what was once the Davenport Hotel, a building listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Built in 1907, the brick, steel and concrete structure had been renovated into a mixed-use residential and commercial building.

Work was being done on the exterior at the time of the collapse, said Rich Oswald, the city's director of development and neighborhood services.

Reports of falling bricks were part of that work, and the building's owner had a permit for the project.

The fire marshal said on Tuesday that the owner had also hired a structural engineer who determined that the building was safe enough to remain occupied during the repairs.