A four-storey steel-frame building under construction in an industrial area of East Vancouver collapsed Wednesday morning during a windstorm.
The Vancouver fire department said there were no injuries in the accident on Commercial Drive at Pandora Street, between Hastings Street and the waterfront.
Spokesman Capt. Rob Jones-Cook said some of the construction workers were on their coffee break when most of the building came down.
There was also a crew of construction workers in the concrete basement of the structure who got out quickly without anyone being hurt.
The steel beams fell into the mains of overhead electrical and trolley lines, said Jones-Cook.
"Our concern at this time is if one of those poles should further let go, this whole network of overhead wires is going to come down, creating quite a problem."
Emergency crews are trying to secure the threatened power lines. Buses are being detoured around the scene of the accident.
Police and fire officials have cordoned off a one-block area to ensure no one gets hurt by the wires.
While there is no word yet on the cause of the collapse, there was some speculation at the scene that the winds gusting up to 100 km/h on Wednesday morning may have played a role.
