So...dik....what was the ultimate cause of this collapse?  Anything coming out in the engineering community?

Maybe a gross simplification, but the wall was designed to hold cold air, not heavy stacks of frozen food. Looks like the wall consisted mostly of like nner and outer insulation on some widely spaced studs.  Obviously, there must have been some embedded columns or other means to support a snow load on the roof, but not much lateral resistance in that wall.

Typically, these types of cold storage facilities are unitized wall, floor and ceiling panels (preformed foam filled) locked together by camlocks. Internal/external  framework is provided to support the structure as necessary for wind and snow loads. Additional or combined structure is used to support the mass (product) internal load. All depends on the size of the facility.
Cold storage envelopes are mostly just that, and do not attempt to support the internal product loads.
It may be that, in this case, the product load exceeded the rating of the product supports, and upon failure a cascade of product precipitated into mass structural failure of the outer wall which could not contain the load.
Cold storage environment, an isolated area, minimal supervision, overloaded conditions..simply a bad connnection. You can speculate the cause. It is unfortunate that a life was lost.

pennpoint


    

JAE:

It's a little early... I've put a call into a couple of our clients that are into insurance (ambulance chaser mode) to see if there has been any info...

With the fatality, it may be a long time before anything of substance is released...