2 killed in southwest Houston stairwell collapse

Houston fire officials said a 4-year-old and a 10-year-old died in the accident that occurred about 7:40 p.m. Wednesday at the Westwood Fountains apartment complex.

Assistant Fire Chief Omero Longoria said that a 9-year-old was taken to the hospital with a broken leg. He said none of the three victims was related.

Longoria told The Associated Press that fire officials were working to recover the children's bodies and to shore up the unstable walls.

"We have to shore up those walls and then take out the bodies. We also have the city's building department here to determine the structural stability of the building. We have two to three walls that are showing signs of possible collapse," he said.

Jaime Cuevar helped free the 9-year-old from the concrete that fell. "It was big pieces," Cuevar said in Wednesday's online edition of the Houston Chronicle. "Some we couldn't lift."

Amanda Pro told Houston television station KTRK, "We just heard this big crash and I said, 'What was that?' and we ran to a window and we heard a lady screaming."

She heard the screams of at least one child as she and her husband ran outside toward where the mangled stairwell landed.

Neighbors said they had complained to apartment managers about cracks in the staircases. The staircases led to patios but weren't in use, the Chronicle reported. Residents said the staircases were supposed to be locked, but never were.

A call to the apartment office went unanswered late Wednesday.