Historic Hotel Collapses Saturday Evening

by: Goldie Graham

Another tragic note came roaring over Lamar’s downtown Saturday. During the evening, the historic Travelers Hotel, which has built over 100 years ago, collapsed with a rumble, a shake, and a deafening roar of rock, marble, and steel falling like water.

Sources for The Travelers Hotel state that records show that there may have been as many as 139 people in the building at the time of the collapse, including Guests and staff.

The city rallied to the cry for aid as Volunteers from all over the city have descended upon the rubble to assist in the search efforts. Volunteers and Rescue crews worked late in to Sunday evening trying to find any and all survivors.

All told there were 115 wounded that were rushed to local hospitals which are now overloaded due to the sudden outbreak of violence Saturday night in the Marshal Pit area.

As of Monday morning, Deputy Fire Marshall Doug Jones announced that the death toll had reached 15 with a possibility of even more yet to be found dead in the rubble of the hotel. As for the cause, the Marshall is wanting to keep their options open “We’re not ruling anything out,“ Jones stated. “But at this time it seems to be the victim of structural damage. The frame and foundation of the old building just gave out under the strain of time.”