Addis Ababa, June 25, 2021 (Walta) – A large-scale rescue operation was continuing Thursday evening at the site of a collapsed condominium block in Miami, where authorities said at least one person was killed, 10 injured and dozens more unaccounted for.
Crews reported hearing noises from inside the rubble as they searched for survivors at the Champlain Towers South condo in Surfside, a 12-story apartment block that came crashing down at about 1.30 am. Authorities said they expected the number of deaths to rise, but would not be drawn on the number.
On Thursday afternoon the Miami-Dade police chief, Alfredo Ramirez, said that 99 people remained missing and that 53 condo residents were rescued or otherwise accounted for. The cause of the collapse was not known, he said, but an estimated 55 of the 130 apartments were affected.
Police have launched a homicide inquiry, according to Sally Heyman, a county commissioner who represents Surfside.
Early on Friday, President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration in the state of Florida and ordered federal assistance to bolster the state and local response efforts. The White House said the move authorized the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) to coordinate all disaster relief efforts.
“It’s unimaginable,” Daniella Levine Cava, the Miami-Dade mayor, said. “A massive search and rescue mission is underway. We are going to do everything we can possibly [do] to identify and rescue those who have been trapped in the rubble.”
More than 80 fire-rescue crews attended the scene in Surfside, a small, oceanfront city just north of Miami Beach. Early video of the aftermath of the collapse showed a boy being pulled from the wreckage, one of 35 people rescued alive, the Miami-Dade commission said.
“They brought dogs who can sniff for survivors in the rubble,” Eliana Salzhauer, a Surfside commissioner, told the Miami Herald. “They aren’t turning up very much. No one is celebrating anyone being pulled out.”
Salzhauer confirmed earlier reports that recent construction work on the roof had taken place and said residents told her a building inspector had visited the property on Wednesday. But she said it was too soon to speculate on the likely cause.
Jimmy Patronis, a Florida cabinet member and the state’s fire marshal, told reporters that crews had heard noises as they sifted through the wreckage. “The rescuers are hearing sounds from the rubble. It’s kind of hit or miss. You get into the zone where you are so passionate and so focused and so determined to make sure you are doing everything possible to save a life in an event like this,” he said.
Earlier, Frank Rollason, the director of the county’s emergency management department, said workers believed that they had rescued all reachable survivors. “Everybody who is alive is out of the building,” he told the Herald.