One confirmed victim named on social media as families of missing are told rescuers have not picked up signs of life

The families of three people missing since the collapse of the condemned Didcot A power station have been told there is little hope of finding their loved ones alive.



One person died and four more were in hospital with serious injuries after part of the defunct coal-fired power station’s boiler house collapsed on Tuesday. Demolition crews had been working on the site at the time, but the collapse was unexpected.



The one confirmed victim was identified on social media as Mick Collings. Police are yet to name any victims, but a post on the Tees Riders motorcycle club Facebook page identified him as having died.



Chrissi Hutchinson added in comments beneath the tribute: “Ride free Mick. You will be missed more than you would ever have realised ... so many memories, so many good times. My heart goes out to [his wife] Lynn Collings.”



Reporters were allowed within a few hundred yards of the scene of the accident for the first time on Wednesday. Rubble from the collapse was piled about a quarter of the way up the side of the remaining section of the 10-storey building.



Speaking at the scene, Dave Etheridge, the chief fire officer at Oxfordshire fire and rescue service, said colleagues had been forced to give bad news to the families of the missing workers.



“We have explained that we have not picked up any signs of life from our listening devices. But we are doing everything we can to locate their loved ones, regardless of whether they are still alive or not,” he said.



“The extent of this incident, the nature of the collapse and the location where the missing people were working means that it is highly unlikely the three missing people are still alive. We have tried the construction site radios and had no response and we see this as significant.”



Rescue efforts were being hampered by fears over the safety of the remaining structure. “I’m sure you can appreciate that the stability of the building is very challenging,” Etheridge said. Sniffer dogs, listening devices and drones were being used to inspect the wreckage, and military personnel were on the scene with robots that could potentially be used to access dangerous areas.



However, he added: “I have given a personal undertaking to the families that we will do everything we can to recover their loved ones and that is what we are trying to do. My heart goes out to them as they wait for news.”



Officials warned reporters not to venture further since the site was being treated as an active crime scene. Thames Valley police’s assistant chief constable Scott Chilton said: “The priority at this time is the recovery of the persons missing, in addition to that we will secure any evidence forensically to determine the cause of the incident.”



Earlier, David Cameron sent condolences to the family of the single confirmed victim of the accident and best wishes to those waiting for news of their missing loved ones. Speaking at prime minister’s questions, he praised the “incredibly brave action” of the emergency services responding to the incident.



Damien Gayle (@damiengayle) Closer to the scene of the #DidcotPowerStation disaster scene #Didcot pic.twitter.com/NIWNpTRjP5

The culture minister, Ed Vaizey, Didcot’s local MP, also paid tribute to the emergency response as he visited the scene. He was allowed past the cordon to inspect the site, but did not reappear to comment on what he had seen.



Just over 100 rescue personnel worked on the scene overnight on Tuesday, Etheridge said, including crews from Cheshire and Merseyside fire and rescue services and the demolition firm that supported Cheshire firefighters after last year’s Bosley Mill fire.



He said he anticipated the operation at Didcot would continue for days, if not weeks. He added there was still a “huge risk” that the remaining section of the building could collapse.



In the morning, the fire safety officer Simon Furlong said that despite the scale of the rescue operation, personnel had been unable to dig into the rubble around the site for fear of further destabilising the remaining structure. He confirmed that there had not been an explosion, explaining that the sounds heard by nearby residents were caused by the collapse.



A GMB union official told the Press Association: “We understand that workers were preparing two boilers for demolition in the coming weeks. This led to the collapse of a building.”



Throughout the day, just a single floral tribute lay at the top of the sliproad to the Didcot A site. Fire engines and vans ferried search and rescue teams in and out, while a helicopter buzzed overhead.



Damien Gayle (@damiengayle) A poignant single floral tribute to the one confirmed victim of the #DidcotPowerStation collapse pic.twitter.com/UbjdmU7ZZq

Didcot A opened in 1970 as a coal-fired power station and was later converted so it could generate power from natural gas. Three of its six cooling towers were brought down in controlled explosions last year, and the remaining three were soon to be demolished along with other buildings on the site.









