A wrecked forklift truck is lifted from the City Gates site

A forklift truck crushed by falling rubble as the City Gates Christian centre collapsed has been lifted from the site.

The collapsed City Gates Christian centre had its topping out ceremony less than a week before it fell. Picture by Paul Bennett

The vehicle, belonging to Ashe Construction, was at the bottom of the five-storey structure in Clements Road, Ilford, when it fell seven days ago.

The steel frame of the building, which was left standing after the collapse, has been taken apart and removed from the site, while a tower crane is in the process of being dismantled.

The forklift truck was one of two vehicles on site when the Christian centre collapsed.

A van was also showered with falling debris.

No one was hurt when the building collapsed, with the 22 workers on the site having clocked off just minutes earlier.

The only reported injury was a woman who had a twisted ankle.

The wreckage from the site is being taken to two separate sites for further investigations from the Health and Safety Executive and other parties looking into what caused the collapse.

Andrew Morris, business development director for build contractors Ashe Construction, said: “We had the guy who erected the building down there marking up steel so that marked up steel is of particular interest and will be taken to [Squibb Construction’s] yard.

“Nothing will be discarded until such time as a number of insurance companies have looked at it. It’s not just our insurers but those of the steelwork fabricators and others.

“All the parties involved have a potential for liability for the collapse until a cause is established, which could take quite some time.”

A section of Clements Road and Handforth Road remain closed with the tower crane is dismantled, with a hoarding to be put around the site before the road is fully reopened, which is likely to be on Wednesday.