Surfside, Florida (tca/dpa) – Search and rescue teams continued the delicate work of picking through a mountain of rubble in Surfside on Thursday afternoon, looking for even the faintest signs of life that might be buried inside the two-story-high remains of the partial collapse of the 12-story oceanfront building, Champlain Towers South Condo.
Nearly 12 hours after the building came crashing down, the death toll remained unknown. Officials confirmed at least one death, and said 35 survivors were pulled from the wreckage, with 10 injured people treated at the scene and at least two transported to a hospital.
Miami-Dade County police said as many as 99 people are reported missing. There were about 55 units in the tower that collapsed, rescue workers said. An attached tower housing the remainder of the 136-unit complex remained standing Thursday afternoon but its residents have been evacuated.
Witnesses said the disaster arrived unexpectedly while most residents were in bed. The tower at 8777 Collins Avenue crumpled with «a bang that just kept on going,» one witness said, a little after 1:30 am [0530 GMT].
«It’s the unimaginable,» said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. «It’s a terrible, terrible nightmare that we have here on Surfside.»
Security camera footage of the collapse looked eerily similar to a controlled demolition, minus the flash of explosives. The center of the tower gave way first, with the rest of the structure collapsing into a pile of rubble. The cause of the collapse is unknown, though one building expert deemed it «an oddity of biblical proportions» for the 40-year-old structure to fall unexpectedly.
In a scene reminiscent of 9/11, evacuees and family and friends of residents gathered at the nearby Surfside Community Center, some carrying photos of their missing loved ones, and anxiously waited for news.
More than 700 missing-person reports came in to a Miami-Dade hot line and web page set up to track victims of the collapse, according to the county’s Emergency Operations Center.
Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo ‘Freddy’ Ramirez said at 2:30 pm that 53 residents of Champlain Towers had been accounted for but that 99 remained missing. Ramirez’s top aide, Lt Carlos Rosario, cautioned that the count may not be accurate and that the numbers are just «the best we have right now.»
Rosario said the 53 who are accounted for are either residents of the building or they were supposed to be there when it collapsed. He wasn’t certain how county officials arrived at the number of missing people, and said it could be a combination of people coming forward to report a friend or relative missing, property records or a list of names supplied by a property manager.
«It’s very fluid,» he said.
Surfside officials said the situation looked dire.
«They brought dogs who can sniff for survivors in the rubble,» said Surfside Commissioner Eliana Salzhauer. «They aren’t turning up very much. No one is celebrating anyone being pulled out.»
Salzhauer said the building was undergoing a required 40-year recertification to ensure its structural integrity, and that the building’s roof was being redone. She added that residents told her a building inspector had visited Champlain Towers on Wednesday, but she did not know what the inspector found. It is unknown if any construction activity contributed to the disaster.
Governor Ron DeSantis, speaking at a news conference one block away from the Champlain Towers, said he toured the scene and what he saw was worse than he had expected.
«The TV doesn’t do it justice,» DeSantis said. «It is really, really traumatic to see the collapse of a massive structure like that.»
DeSantis thanked first responders for risking their lives to search for survivors when it was unknown if the building was stable enough to enter.
He said engineers and other experts would probe the evidence to determine what went wrong.
«You’re not going to have those answers immediately,» he said.
News of the disaster also reached the White House, where President Joe Biden said he had a «long discussion» with Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava about the building collapse.
Biden put the onus on DeSantis to declare a state of emergency so federal resources, including FEMA help, can be deployed.
«We are ready to move federal resources immediately,» Biden said. «We can’t go in and do it but FEMA is down there taking a look at what’s needed, including whether the rest of the buildings need to be evacuated as well.»
He said federal resources could help with recovery, cleanup and shelter for families who were displaced.
«I’m waiting for the governor to declare an emergency,» Biden said. «We’re working on it, and I made it clear, I say to the people of Florida: Whatever help you want that the federal government can provide, we’re waiting. Just ask us, we’ll be there. We’ll be there.»
By J Flechas, D Hanks, S Gross, C Rabin, A Harris and D Chang, Miami Herald
