Mayor: Removal of third Hard Rock victim bittersweet for family

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Mayor LaToya Cantrell said words cannot describe how grateful the city is now that the third victim of the Hard Rock collapse, Jose Ponce Arreola, has been removed from the site.

His body was recovered on Monday (Aug. 17) around 7 p.m.

Cantrell said the day provides some closure for the family, but it is also bittersweet.

The body is being sent to Baton Rouge for a forensic autopsy. It could take up to two months for that to be completed

Three men were killed when the Hard Rock Hotel construction site collapse in October.

The body of one worker was recovered a few days after the collapse while the bodies of Arreola and Quinnyon Wimberly remained inside until they were recovered this month after several delays.

In terms of the future of the building, contractors will provide a timeline. The city doesn’t have that timeline now. At some point, the city will remove itself from the grounds and remove itself from the site, according to Cantrell.

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