UPDATE: Smashed South Bend apartment building to be demolished

Tenants that were evacuated out of a South Bend apartment building after it was hit by a car are anxious to get the rest of their belongings.

AsWSBT first reported early Thursday morning, a car slammed into the building located at the corner of Olive and Lawson Streets.

There is a major crack running up the building and city officials say it is unsafe and will have to be demolished.

However, South Bend's Code Enforcement Office is trying to have the building stabilized enough so the people that lived there can get their things out.

The building is made up of nine rooms that people rented. According to the St. Joseph County Red Cross, no children lived in the building and tenants were mostly older people who had fixed incomes. When the accident happened in the middle of the night, most of them were evacuated before they could grab all their belongings.

City building inspectors say the building is so unstable they blocked off part of Olive Street and are detouring traffic away from the area because of the potential danger of the building crashing down. On Friday a construction crew was brought in to board up a gaping hole in the front of the building and to try to stabilize the complex.

The local Red Cross has been assisting the 12 people that lived there.

"In this case we provided folks with a prepaid debit card they could use for food or whatever they determined was their need, as well as the motel," said John Pinter, St. Joseph County Red Cross director.

The tenants could stay at a local hotel through Saturday morning, but were told they needed to contact friends or family to find a place to stay after that.

South Bend Code Enforcement Director Katherine Topple said early Monday morning she and her inspectors plan on going in the building to see what the damage looks like from the inside. If they can stabilize it enough they are going to allow tenants to go inone byone to get their belongings out. And then they are going to tear the building down

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UPDATE: Smashed South Bend apartment building to be demolished