A waterfront building collapses near Miami, U.S.
US officials said a 12-story residential building in northern Miami, Florida collapsed, killing at least one person and dozens of others missing.
Miami-Dade County Magistrate Daniel (Danielle Levine-Cava) said that 102 people have been identified and 99 people are still missing.
It is unclear how many people were in the building at the time of the accident.
This building in Surfside was built in 1980. The collapse of the building affected about half of the 130 units in the building. The cause of the collapse is currently unclear.
The consulate reported that some Latin American immigrants were missing.
Paraguayan officials said that relatives of Paraguay’s first lady have also disappeared. Rescuers were unable to contact the first lady Silvana (Silvana López Moreira)’s sisters, the latter’s husband, their three children and a domestic worker.
Officials said rescuers rescued 35 people from the rubble. Ten people were evaluated and treated, and two of them were taken to the hospital.
The search and rescue team is searching for survivors in a parking lot under the rubble.
Miami-Dade Fire Department Chief Raide Jadallah said that a small fire broke out during the search, but it was extinguished within 20 minutes.
He said that they have used sonar and search cameras, as well as specially trained dogs, but because of the risk of moving gravel, this is a “slow and methodical” process.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis inspected the scene on Thursday afternoon. He said that the fire and rescue services are still in “search and rescue mode.”
“The TV didn’t handle it properly. It was really very painful to see such a huge building collapse.”
The BBC reporter Will Grant at the scene said that relatives of the missing people gathered in a community center a few blocks away from the collapsed building to wait for news, fearing that the worst would happen.
US President Biden said that he is waiting for DeSantis to declare a state of emergency, and officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency have arrived at the scene.
“I want to say to the people of Florida, no matter what help you want or what the federal government can provide, we will wait, just ask us. We are.” Biden said.
“Like a scene in 911”
According to police, the 12-story Champlain Building is located at 8777 Collins Avenue.
Image source,Google Street View
Champlain Building
People can see rescuers approach residents in nearby apartments with cranes to help them evacuate.
A man and his brother went out for a dog walk. He said he heard the sound of a building collapsing.
“We heard a loud rumble, we thought it was a motorcycle, and then we turned around and saw a cloud of dust coming towards us,” he told CBS.
“Our reaction at the time was,’What’s the matter?’ We rushed over, with a shirt over our faces, and the security came out, and we asked,’What happened?’ She said the house collapsed.
A man who witnessed the collapse told CNN, “It looks like a scene from the 9/11 incident,” and he was referring to the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center in New York.
Image source,Reuters
Hundreds of rescuers participated in the operation
Image source,Reuters
Cranes are used for search and rescue
Santo Mejil, 50, was awakened by a phone call from his wife, who was the night caregiver of an elderly disabled woman who was on the ninth floor of one of the three buildings in Champlain Towers.
Mr. Megill told the Miami Herald: “She said she heard an explosion. “It feels like an earthquake.” His wife has been rescued.
A man living in a nearby building described the situation to CBS: “The building shook, and then I looked out the window and saw nothing. I thought it was a storm or something.”
“When the dust dissipated, two-thirds of the back of the building was gone and all fell to the ground.”