Area agencies rescue two victims from collapsed building in Macon

Time is critical when a life is on the line.

MACON, Miss. (WCBI)- We now know the names of the two people trapped in a building collapse in Macon last night.

Macon Police tell WCBI Linda Grissom and Sheba Mickens were pinned under debris for nearly two hours.

Time is critical when a life is on the line.

And agencies from across the Golden Triangle quickly responded when they got the call.

Bricks…broken glass, and debris—

Two Macon residents have severe injuries after being stuck in this pile of rubble for nearly two hours.

“It’s scary. It’s really scary,” said Layla Franks.

Franks was inside City Drug in Macon as the building collapsed on Thursday night.

” I heard and saw the wall start shaking. It was completely shaking like it was thundering outside. I took off running. We have a back door that the employees go in through. I just ran as fast as I could back to the back,” said Franks.

Franks works as a Pharmacy Technician.

“We were sitting around talking amongst each other. I was working the back of the pharmacy, so I was kind of out of the way. I didn’t think I’d be in there when the rest of it came down,” said Franks.

The structure next to City Drug underwent demolition recently, but detached portions of the debris remained near the building.

With inclement weather in Noxubee County Thursday night, emergency officials tell WCBI strong wind gusts compromised that structure, later blowing debris onto the drugstore around 5 p.m. that night.

” Time was very precious. We could’ve gotten wind coming around the area and shifted the building. It was a sensitive situation,” said Macon Police Chief Davine Beck.

Beck says agencies from as far away as Philadelphia assisted in rescue efforts.

” The guys digging the bricks by hand were able to gain access to the patient. That’s when they called for our stokes basket. It helps in the types of accidents. It’s better and safer for the patient,” said Jim Robbins, the Noxubee County Fire Coordinator.

Robbins couldn’t imagine how this situation would’ve turned out without assistance from the community.

“We climbed over a good pile of bricks and debris. Then, we formed that human chain to pass them along and to get the victim to the ambulance,” said Robbins

” We couldn’t get her out through the inside. We found a way to get her out the back. We got her out there. They did a wonderful job,” said Beck.

” It could have been any one of us. It’s really scary,” said Franks.

Clean-up will begin on Monday.

The incident remains under investigation.