At least three people are dead and more than 99 remain unaccounted for after a high-rise condo building in Miami collapsed early Thursday morning, officials said.
Champlain Tower South, a 12-story structure that contains 136 units, was seen crumbling to the ground in alarming video footage. A total of 55 units were destroyed, though only 35 occupants, including the dead and wounded, have been extracted so far following an hourslong rescue effort.
At least 10 were injured, and 15 others were able to walk out of the rubble on their own.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced Thursday that she signed an emergency order, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has one on her desk, seeking Federal Emergency Management Agency aid that Cava said President Joe Biden pledged he would provide.
“We are all praying. We are all crying. We are all here with the suffering families,” she said.
Miami-Dade Mayor says emergency orders from herself and Gov. DeSantis are moving forward and that President Biden has pledged federal support from FEMA in condo collapse.
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Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said the building had “pancaked” and darkness hampered earlier rescue efforts.
“We had dogs out in the middle of the night, looking for survivors in the rubble, but it was just so dangerous and so dark that they made one pass, and they did not get any hits … The problem is the building has literally pancaked,” he told reporters Thursday morning. “It has gone down. And I mean, there’s just feet in between stories where there were 10 feet.”
“That is, is heartbreaking because it doesn’t mean to me that we’re going to be successful — as successful as we would want to be to find people alive,” he added.
This is video of the moment the Surfside, Florida residential building partially collapsed this morning. pic.twitter.com/KnsHM1lnmD
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) June 24, 2021
A family reunification center has been established for any victims who were displaced following the incident, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue tweeted.
DeSantis held an afternoon press conference to address the state’s effort in handling the crisis.
“The TV doesn’t do it justice,” the Republican governor said, referring to the scale of the destruction around the building. He added that firefighters are still in “search and rescue” mode.
Biden also briefly commented on the matter.
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“To the people of Florida — whatever help you want, the federal government can provide,” he said.
A cause for the collapse has yet to be revealed by authorities, and the building dates back to the 1980s.
