A large rescue effort was underway at the scene in Miami-Dade County, Fla. At least one person was killed, the police said.
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Follow live updates on the Surfside building collapse here.
Firefighters, search dogs and emergency crews scoured rubble for survivors of a residential building that partially collapsed just north of Miami Beach on Thursday morning.
At least one person was killed, the police said, and dozens of others remained unaccounted for at the scene in Surfside, Fla.
What happened?
About half of the units in the 12-story tower had collapsed, according to Daniella Levine Cava, the mayor of Miami-Dade County, Fla.
The beachside building, at 8777 Collins Avenue, is called Champlain Towers South and was built in 1981, according to city property records. There were about 136 units in the building, according to the mayor.
Fiorella Terenzi, an associate professor at Florida International University who lives in a neighboring building, Champlain Towers East, said she woke up early Thursday to a loud noise.
The sound “was like a big thump all of a sudden,” she said. At first she thought it was thunder but then started to hear sirens. When she left the building, dust was everywhere.
“I could see that half of the building of the Champlain Towers South was collapsed like a sandwich,” said Ms. Terenzi.
The authorities did not give a reason for the building’s collapse. At a late afternoon news conference, Mayor Levine Cava said it was a “structural engineering question.”
The building had been about to undergo extensive repairs for rusted steel and damaged concrete, Kenneth S. Direktor, a lawyer involved in the project, said on Thursday. The repairs had been scheduled as part of a review and re-certification process for 40-year-old buildings.
Mr. Direktor said that he had seen nothing to suggest that the collapse had anything to do with the issues identified in the engineering review, adding that any waterfront building of that age would have some level of corrosion and concrete deterioration.
The police said that while search and rescue efforts were being prioritized on Thursday, officials would soon launch a thorough investigation into the cause of the collapse.
How many people were hurt or killed?
The police have confirmed one death. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida told reporters that officials were “bracing for some bad news,” but still hopeful to find and save survivors.
“They’re doing everything they can to save lives,” he said. He described the collapse as severe: “The TV doesn’t do it justice. It is really, really traumatic to see the collapse of a massive structure like that.”
About 35 people were rescued from the building by late afternoon, and two were pulled from the rubble, Ray Jadallah, a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue assistant fire chief, said at the news conference.
Officials have accounted for 102 people who lived in the building, but at least 99 people remained unaccounted for by late afternoon, Mayor Levine Cava said. The authorities have stressed that the numbers continued to shift as the authorities figure out how many people were actually in the building overnight.
The area has a robust Jewish community and longtime ties to families from South America. Many Jewish and South American residents were reported to be among the missing.
Champlain
Towers South
Surfside Beach
Atlantic Ocean
Champlain Towers South
Collins Ave.
The center portion of the building collapsed first.
Moments later,
the east structure fell.
Collapsed section
Champlain
Towers South
Surfside Beach
Atlantic Ocean
Champlain Towers South
Collins Ave.
The center portion of the building collapsed first.
Moments later,
the east structure fell.
Collapsed section
Champlain
Towers South
Surfside Beach
Champlain Towers South
This portion collapsed first.
Moments later, this portion fell.
Collapsed
section
“A number of people” were rushed to nearby hospitals from the rubble of the collapsed building, a police spokesman said. At least two people were in critical condition, according to a spokesman for Aventura Hospital and Medical Center.
By Thursday evening, crews at the site of the collapse were trying to tunnel to different floors and find spaces where survivors might be, setting up cameras and sonar devices to detect any signs of life.
“This process is slow and methodical,” Chief Jadallah said at the news conference. “Anytime we started breaching parts of the structure, we get rubble falling on us.”
Jacey Fortin, Christine Hauser and Derrick Bryson Taylor contributed reporting.
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