“We took at least two people to hospital this morning and one of them died,” Charles Burkett, the mayor of the town of Surfside, where the Champlain Towers South complex is located, told NBC. belonged to the building in Florida, in the southeast of the country.
At least one person was killed and authorities were without news of dozens more on Thursday, June 24, after the spectacular collapse of a residential building near Miami, Florida (USA), where a massive search operation was underway, the relief fearing a catastrophic toll. We do not yet know the cause of the incident.
“We took at least two people to hospital this morning and one of them died,” Charles Burkett, the mayor of the town of Surfside, where the Champlain Towers South complex is located, told NBC. belonged to the building in Florida, in the southeast of the country.
Surveillance video appears to show the moment that part of a multistory residential building collapsed early Thursday in the South Florida community of Surfside, killing at least one person and sparking an intense search and rescue effort, officials say. https://t.co/8ni5rYJbvI pic.twitter.com/jISuMUBi50
— CNN (@CNN) June 24, 2021
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The twelve floors collapsed around 1:30 am (7:30 am French time), according to witnesses releasing a large cloud of dust over several blocks. “One side of the building has fallen, it no longer exists,” Nicolas Fernandez, an Argentinian living in Miami, whose friends were staying in the complex, told AFP. “I haven’t heard from them. I don’t know if they’re alive or if …” the 29-year-old stammered.
“Bad news”
The emergency services fear for the lives of 51 people “supposed to live” in the collapsed part of the building and who “neither called (to signal to be safe) nor asked for someone to call” in their place Miami-Dade County administrator Sally Heyman told CNN. “But you never know, between the holidays and the like … So we keep on waiting. And unfortunately, even if there is any, hope is dwindling.”
“We are preparing for bad news, given the destruction we have witnessed,” warned Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who praised the “rapid response” of relief, which he said “saved lives. “.
The collapse of an entire wing of the oceanfront resort affected around 55 apartments, said Ray Jadallah, deputy chief of Miami Dade County Rescue Services, at a press conference, who added that 35 people had been evacuated from the building, some of them from the collapsed part.
“Like an earthquake”
“We treated ten people on the spot,” said the mayor of Surfside, adding that the dog units had not yet detected any casualties under the rubble. The search could last “at least a week,” said Andrew Hyatt, another Surfside official, at the same press conference.
A resident of the neighborhood, Santo Mejil, said his wife – a home help – was in the building when it collapsed. “She said she heard a big explosion. It was like an earthquake,” he told the Miami Herald daily, tears in his eyes as his wife called him back to tell him that she was was being evacuated.
Causes still unknown
Work to bring the building up to standard was underway, especially on the roof of the building, said several officials, nevertheless considering it unlikely that they were the cause of the collapse.
Emergency services dispatched nearly 80 response units to the scene near the beach. Miami Beach Police said their officers had come to the aid of the town of Surfside.
Local media reported that the building was built in 1981 and included more than 130 apartments.
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