After the spectacular collapse in the night of a residential building near Miami, the American authorities are still without news, this Thursday, June 24, of 99 people. The emergency services are in a race against time to locate the missing, but fear a heavy toll. The twelve floors collapsed around 1:30 a.m. (05:30 GMT), according to witnesses releasing a large cloud of dust over several blocks.
At least one person died in this disaster, which is not yet explained. “Fifty-three people located, we have no news of 99 people”Miami-Dade Police Chief Freddy Ramirez said. “It could be for various reasons, we are still at the preliminary stage” of research.
“We prepare for bad news, given the destruction, “Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned. President Joe Biden told him that the federal state stood ready to assist with emergency relief and resettlement operations.
“I don’t know if they’re alive or if …”
“We took at least two people to the hospital this morning and one of them died“said on NBC Charles Burkett, the mayor of the town of Surfside, where is the Champlain Towers South complex to which the building belonged in Florida, in the southeast of the United States.
Many nationals of Latin American countries, including nine Argentines, three Uruguayans and six Paraguayans, are among the missing. The sister of the First Lady of Paraguay, Silvana Lopez Moreira, and her family are concerned, confirmed the Paraguayan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Euclides Acevedo.
Nicolas Fernandez, an Argentinian living in Miami, reported that friends of his family were staying at the resort. “I haven’t heard from them. I don’t know if they’re alive or if …” the 29-year-old stammered.
A “predominantly Jewish community”
The collapse of an entire wing of this oceanfront resort affected around 55 apartmentsRay Jadallah, deputy chief of the Miami-Dade County emergency services, said at a press conference. 35 people were evacuated from the building, including some from the collapsed part, he added.
Surfside is home to a “predominantly Jewish community,” said Daniella Levine Cava, another county administrator, who said rabbis were mobilized to provide support to evacuated Jewish residents and their families. The city has, in fact, nearly 2,500 Jewish inhabitants for a population of 6,000, reported in 2018 the Jewish news agency Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Residents evacuated also receive “medicines, blankets and clothes”, in addition to “hotel rooms,” said Daniella Levine Cava.
The causes are still “unknown”
A resident of the neighborhood, Santo Mejil, confided Thursday morning to the daily Miami Herald that his wife – a home help – was in the building at the time of its collapse. “She said she heard a big explosion. It was like an earthquakehe said with tears in his eyes as his wife called him back to tell him she was being evacuated.
The causes of the collapse of this residential complex were still “unknown” Thursday morning, told the Miami Herald Daniella Levine Cava. Work to bring it up to standard was underway, especially on the roof of the building, said several officials, nevertheless estimating unlikely that they were the cause of the collapse.
Emergency services dispatched nearly 80 response units to the scene near the beach. The research could take “at least a week”, said Andrew Hyatt, another Surfside official. Local media reported that the building was built in 1981 and included more than 130 apartments.
