Cause Not Known in Minneapolis Partial Building Collapse

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - City officials are trying to determine what caused part of an outer wall to collapse at a building in the warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis.

The building housed a heating company. A stretch of the outer brick wall toward the back collapsed Thursday morning, but walls just inside remain standing.

Assistant Fire Chief Cherie Penn says nobody was hurt, and the department turned responsibility for the site over to building regulators.

City spokesman Matt Lindstrom says construction was taking place next door, but it's too early to say if that had anything to do with the collapse.

He says the building has been closed and the utilities are shut off. He says the owner will need to do some temporary shoring, then determine whether to repair or demolish the building.