Dozen Persons Unaccounted for—Fear Many More
Bodies Will Be Found in Ruins—Believe 17
Negroes Working in Center of Building were
All Killed-——Several of Injured
Eynected tran Me,
  

Oo

SHELBY, N. C., Aug. 28.—(INS) —Collapse of the
First National Bank building here during a rush business
hour this morning claimed an undertermined number of
dead and injured.

At 12:45 this afternoon, when excavation operations
had been under way only three hours, a check-up revealed
six known dead, 15 known injured, and a number of persons
missing.

Police estimated the death toll would mount steadily
ag rescue crews dug deeper into the debris in search of
bodies.

No accurate check-up could be made of the missing
persons, but 1b was known that a dozen or more had not
been accounted for.

Early this afternoon the crews had searched only the
edges of the huge pile of debris, and it was feared many
more bodies would be found toward the center

The known dead:

Miss Ora Ethridge, secretary to the bank president.

Guy, Green, bank clerk.

Alex Boyd, bank clerk.

Deb Blanton, a farmer who was in the bank.

Carl Blanton, his son.

Aw nnidentifiead man
 It was feared that a crew of seven-
teen negroes who were working In the
center of the building were ail Filled
The rescue crews had not heen able
TO get to the place where the negroes
were working at an early hour this
afternoon

It was known that fifteen persons
were injured, several} of whom were
expected to die They were all tak-
en to a hospital here as they were
dragged from the fallen structure

Excavation work at a nearby bulld~
ing was generally assigned as the
cause of the collapse of the bank
puilding It was known that several
persons were in a grocery store and a
tailor's shop which were a part of
the building, but it was expected to
be nours before that part of the
Structure could be searched thorough-
jy

The collapse occurred during a
Tush hour on this little town's main
thoroughfare, and it was beheved
that several persons in the street be-
low were trapped under the ze-
ecunding deluge of stone and timber

The entire fire and police forces
of Shelby, referred to as ‘the sum-
mer capital of North Carolina," were
taaed to the fullest in controlling
the crowds which gathered around
the scene of disaster

Many volunteers aided in the res~
eve onerstions _
 
WASHINGTON (UPI: —
The federal government
says it has spent nearly $2
million improving Presi-
dent Nixon's homes in
Florida and California, al-
most all of it relating to
“security.” The expenses
ranged from fire sprin-
kKlers'ta gulf carts for the
Seeret Service.

The White House also
disclosed that business-
,man Robert H. Abplanalp,
who helped the President
buy his San Clemente re-
treat, has been getting
some moncy hack in the
form of rent associated
with Nixon's Key Bis-
eayne place.

A month ago the White
House had listed $39,000 in
federal funds for improv-
ing the Western White
House at San Clemente
since Nixon bought it in
1969.

LAST WEEK, after a
further search of record,
it raised this fugure to
$460,300.

On Thursday, General
Services Administration,
the government's house-
keeping agency, said a
still more extensive audit
put the total federal
expenditure at San Cle-
‘mente at $703,367 over
four fiscal years begi:

 
 ning July 1, 1969. This in-
cluded only the residence
there, not the White
House office space.

GSA listed for the first
time the federal expendi-
ture for impravements,
equipment, operation and
maintenance at ihe White
Complex at Key Biscayne,
including both residence
and office space — $1,180,
522, spread over five
fiscal years beginning
July 1, 1968.

 

INCLUDED in the Key
Biscayne figure was $161,-
463 for renting two houses
in the complex for the Se-
eret Service and White
House communications
staff. The total did not in-
clude an estimated $400,-
000 helicopter landing pad
built by the Army Corps
of Engineers.

The White House said
one of the two houses is
owned by Abplanalp and
the other is owned in the
name of Edwin H. Un
derwood, trustee for the
Indiana National Bank
Indianapolis.

The White House saic
all of the taxpayers
money spent in San Cle
mente and Key Bis
cayne was for security

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