A residential building collapsed in Florida: rescuers are looking for survivors

In Miami-Dade County, Florida, a 12-story building partially collapsed. 1 person died. Rescuers continue to search for survivors under the ruins. Writes about it with the BBC.

Images from Surfside, north of Miami Beach, show a huge pile of rubble towering outside an apartment building.

One woman died, at least ten people were injured, and there are fears that dozens more remain under the rubble or trapped in the lower floors. Rescuers are using cranes to get to residents of nearby apartments to help them evacuate.

It is reported that the building collapsed at about 02:00 at night.

The county rescue service said 80 vehicles were sent to the scene. The police are also involved in the rescue operation.

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Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett warned during a press conference: The building manager told him that the tower is quite full and the death toll is likely to rise. APNews.

“It’s terrible because we may not be as successful as we would like in finding living people,” he laments.

Rescuers have pulled 35 people out of the building and continue to search, the assistant chief of the Miami-Dade fire department said at a press conference.

“The building shook, I looked out the window, and after that nothing was visible. I thought it was probably a storm or something similar. When the dust cleared, two-thirds of the building had disappeared, the rubble lay on the ground,” said one of the residents of a neighboring house.

Rescuers managed to save a ten-year-old boy.

Witness Nicholas Balboa told CNNthat shortly after the collapse he saw the boy's fingers sticking out of the wreckage.

"I got close enough to hear him and he said, 'Can you see my hand?' Balboa shared. “He stuck his hand through the rubble. And I saw his hand and fingers moving.”

Balboa and another man called for a police officer and other rescuers eventually arrived. The boy, who was under the mattress and bed frame, was pulled out.

Another man, who was walking the dog, told the reporter that he heard the building collapse.

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“We heard a very loud crash and thought it was a motorcycle. “We turned around and saw a cloud of dust approaching us,” he said. “But we still didn’t understand what was happening.” They wrapped their shirts around their faces, rushed there, a security officer appeared, we asked: “What happened?” and she replied that the building had collapsed.”

Barry Cohen, 63, said he and his wife were sleeping in the building when he first heard what he thought was a lightning strike. The couple went out onto the balcony, then opened the door to the corridor and found that "there was a lot of rubble, dust and smoke swirling around."

Then the couple got to the basement and found rising water there. They went back upstairs, screamed for help and were eventually saved.

One of the witnesses compared the collapse to 11 September.

Police have named the address of the affected building - the 12-story Champlain Towers, 8777 Collins Avenue. It is located on the coast and has over a hundred apartments. The building was built in 1981.

Officials have not yet clarified the possible cause of the collapse.

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