A concrete production company worker remains trapped underneath twisted steel beams, sand and other materials more than 36 hours after the Bucks County facility came crashing to the ground.
Rescuers began searching the rubble for 48-year-old Tony Gabrielle, identified at the scene by his brother, shortly after a police officer spotted the collapsed Silvi Properties silo, located in the Riverside Industrial Complex along the 7900 block of North Radcliff Street in Bristol Township, just after midnight Thursday.
After crews spent more than six hours working to locate Gabrielle, of Bucks County, amid the debris, they announced the rescue mission was shifting to a recovery effort.
"He is not dead until they find him," said Gabrielle's brother, John. "We are just going to wait until they find him."
John was one of several family members who watched as about 60 members of various local fire departments and several search dogs combed the wreckage for signs of Gabrielle.
"We have high hopes we will bring this gentleman out alive," said Kevin Dipplito, Bristol Township Fire Marshall.
The search effort is proving even more difficult for rescuers as it is unclear where Gabrielle may have been when the collapse occurred. Also hampering the mission, the heavy structural materials that must be carefully moved so crews remain out of harm's way.
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"It is a slow process because of the stabilization and the potential for additional collapse," Dipplito said. "As we progress in the search, we have to stabilize as well."
Gabrielle began working for Silvi when he was 18-years-old.
