12-story building Collapsed in Florida
At least one person died Thursday morning in the partial collapse of a twelve-storey residential building in Florida, in the southeastern United States, and authorities fear the death toll could worsen as a massive relief operation is underway.
You might also like
“We transported at least two people to the hospital this morning and one of them died,” Charles Burkett, the mayor of the town of Surfside, where the building was located, said on NBC.
“We treated ten people on the spot,” he added, adding that the canine units had not detected any casualties under the rubble.
The partial collapse of the building affected about 55 apartments, Ray Jadallah, deputy chief of the Miami Dade County Emergency Services, said at a news conference, adding that his services responded at about 1:30 a.m. and evacuated 35 people from the building.
The exact number of people living in the building or in the building at the time of the disaster was not immediately clear on Thursday. “I think there were quite a few people inside,” the mayor of Surfside said.
God is so real! the building next door to our condo collapsed! (our building is the blue one)just knowing lives were lost disturbed my energy. It could’ve been us. I want to thank god for waking my bf & I up & keeping our baby safe. Life is so short! I couldn’t have woken up today pic.twitter.com/gLdnbZMhdF— 444. (@tatyannaj_) June 24, 2021
Argentina’s Foreign Ministry confirmed thursday morning the presence of at least four Argentine nationals in the building, three adults and a 6-year-old girl, missing.
Footage from a local station, NBC 6 South Florida, showed firefighters removing a boy alive from the rubble.
A resident of the neighborhood, Santo Mejil, said his wife — a home help — was in the building at the time of its partial collapse.
“She said she heard a big explosion. It was like an earthquake,” he told the Miami Herald newspaper, with tears in his eyes as his wife called him back to tell him that she was being evacuated.
12-story building Collapsed in Florida
The causes of the collapse of this residential complex were still “unknown” Thursday morning, Daniella Levine Cava, head of Miami-Dade County, told the Miami Herald.
Work was underway on the roof of the building, Charles Burkett told NBC, but said it was unlikely to be the cause of the collapse. “I think it’s a catastrophic failure of this building.”
Emergency services dispatched dozens of response units to the scene near the beach.
Miami Beach police said their officers came to the town of Surfside’s aid after “a partial collapse of a building,” adding that several police and fire departments were mobilized.
Local media reported that the building was built in 1981 and included more than 130 apartments.
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK
