There were 99 people missing, and one person was killed when a part of a condo building collapsed in Miami-area Beachfront Town. This triggered a long-running search for survivors in the rubble.
Charles Burkett, Surfside Mayor, stated that hundreds of first responders and firefighters were on the scene. Dogs trained to search for victims combed the debris. The rescue efforts were complicated by lightning and thunderstorms. Sally Heyman, Miami-Dade Commissioner, stated that 99 people had not been found. Ten were listed as being injured.
Rescue crews responded to a call around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday. They found that the northeast section (12-story, 136-unit Champlain Towers South) had collapsed.
The mayor stated that 55 units were affected and that the building was substantially full of occupants. He cited his conversation with a building manager.
At a news conference, Mr. Burkett stated that the building had “literally pancaked”. “That’s heartbreaking, because it doesn’t mean that we’re going to…as successful…as we would like to be to find people living,” Mr. Burkett said at a news conference.
