Over the weekend the multi-agency operation continued search efforts for the three men who remain unaccounted for. 聽The partially collapsed building remains unstable making this a complex operation.
Part of the massive boiler house at the former Didcot A power station site in Oxfordshire collapsed at around 4pm on Tuesday 23rd February. Specialist contractor Coleman & Company had been preparing the structure for a controlled demolition聽 in the coming weeks.
A post-mortem examination took place on the deceased man on Thursday 25th February and he was formally identified as Michael Collings, aged 53, from Cleveland.
His family released this statement: 鈥淢ike was a much loved husband, father, granddad, son, brother and friend. He had a huge enthusiasm for life and will be remembered for his kind and friendly nature. He loved everyone and everyone loved him.
鈥淭hank you to everyone who has sent their condolences and to Coleman & Company and the emergency services for their support. We ask that our privacy is respected at this terrible time.鈥�
Mark Coleman, managing director of his employer Coleman & Company, said:聽 鈥淢ick Collings was our colleague and friend, and we are devastated to hear this news today.聽 Above all he was a husband and dad, and our hearts go out to his wife Lynn, his daughters Zoe and Stacey and his extended family. We are deeply sorry for their loss.
鈥淭his has been a terrible incident which has shocked everyone at the company, but our over-riding priority remains supporting the families affected.聽 We will continue to keep in close touch with Mick鈥檚 family to do what we can to help."
Nathan Travis, deputy chief fire officer of Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Services, said on Friday: 鈥淲e continue to work with Thames Valley Police to keep families informed of our progress on the site. This will continue through the weekend. Our priority remains to recover those missing. The site remains extremely unstable and so the safety of the teams working on site has to be our first consideration.
鈥淲e are working very closely with structural experts on the site. We continue to anticipate that this exercise will be prolonged and difficult. We extend our deepest sympathies to the man who has died and our thoughts remain with the families of those missing.
鈥淚 would like to reassure the public there were no hazardous materials within the building.鈥�
Thames Valley Police assistant chief constable Scott Chilton, said: 鈥淚 cannot imagine what this must be like for the families of the three missing people. The police are continuing to do everything we can to recover their loved ones and will continue to support the family during this terrible time.鈥�
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