Rescue teams search for nearly 100 people missing in oceanfront building collapse

Record ID: 1623310

  • Title: Rescue teams search for nearly 100 people missing in oceanfront building collapse
  • Date: 25th June 2021
  • Summary: SURFSIDE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 24, 2021) (REUTERS) AUTHORITIES ARRIVING TO AREA OF BUILDING COLLAPSE VARIOUS OF FIREFIGHTERS IN CRANE DURING RESCUE OPERATION COLLAPSED BUILDING WITH POLICE OFFICER WALKING ON OTHER SIDE OF YELLOW TAPE AND CONES POLE READING 'EMERGENCIES ONLY' WITH COLLAPSED BUILDING IN REAR ONLOOKERS ON BEACH/COLLAPSED BUILDING POLICE CAR BLOCKING PUBLIC WALKWAY NEXT TO COLLAPSED BUILDING COLLAPSED TOP FLOORS OF BUILDING SEEN OVER TREES BEACH BEHIND BUILDING CLOSED OFF WITH YELLOW POLICE TAPE POLICE OFFICERS BLOCKING STREET LEADING TO FRONT OF COLLAPSED BUILDING POLICE BLOCKING OFF PARK NEAR BUILDING WRECKED BUILDING SEEN THROUGH PALM TREES AND GRASS POLICE PATROL CAR ON BEACH WITH WRECKED BUILDING IN BACKGROUND POLICE CAR BLOCKING BEACH PATH NEAR WRECKAGE DESTROYED BACK OF BUILDING WITH POLICE AND EMERGENCY VEHICLES
  • Embargoed: 9th July 2021 07:06
  • Keywords: Miami building collapse search and rescue
  • Location: SURFSIDE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES
  • City: SURFSIDE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Disaster/Accidents,United States
  • Reuters ID: LVA001EIWG37R
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Rescue crews searched for survivors on Thursday (June 24) after the collapse of part of an oceanfront apartment tower overnight near Miami, where officials reported at least one person dead and nearly 100 missing.
    Search teams detected sounds of banging and other noises but no voices coming from the mounds of debris hours after a large section of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, a barrier island town across Biscayne Bay from the city, crumbled to the ground, authorities said.
    What caused the 40-year-old high-rise to tumble into a heap in a matter of seconds was not immediately known, though local officials said the 12-story tower was undergoing roof construction and other repairs.
    Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told reporters 99 people remained unaccounted for some 18 hours after the collapse, though some may not have been in the building at the time. Another 102 individuals whose whereabouts were initially unknown have since been located and "declared safe," she said.
    A fire official said earlier that 35 people were evacuated from the portion of the high-rise left standing, and response teams using trained dogs and drones in the search of survivors pulled two individuals from the rubble - one of them was dead.
    Miami-Dade Police Director Freddy Ramirez said earlier in the day that crews would work through the night, in hopes of finding survivors.
    "I don't want to set false expectations," he said. "This is a very tragic situation for those families and for the community."
    Sally Heyman, a Miami-Dade County commissioner, told CNN early in the day that officials knew of 51 individuals who "supposedly" live in the building, home to a mix of year-round residents and part-time "snow birds" who spend the winter months in Florida.
    Officials said the complex, built in 1981, was going through a recertification process requiring repairs, with another building under construction on an adjacent site.
    The Champlain Towers South had more than 130 units, about 80 of which were occupied. It had been subject to various inspections recently due to the recertification process and the adjacent building construction, Surfside Commissioner Charles Kesl told Local 10.
    (Production: Arlene Eiras)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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