LIVE UPDATES: Surfside, Florida apartment building collapse leaves 1 dead, 99 unaccounted for
Rescuers in Surfside, near Miami, are searching for survivors after the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo high rise
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A first responder vehicle parked on the beach near the Surfside collapse site. (Jordan Early/Fox News)
The fact that rescuers heard banging sounds from beneath the collapsed Champlain Towers South apartment building in Surfside, Fla., just outside Miami, is a good sign that they may yet find additional survivors, according to a former FDNY member who responded to both terror attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. Read more.
A Miami-Dade Fire Rescue worker carries equipment at the collapsed Champlain Towers South site in Surfside, Fla. (Jordan Early/Fox News)
Communications between Miami-Dade first responders reveal the level-headed reaction as rescuers raced to the site of a collapsed high-rise apartment building in the coastal Florida community of Surfside. Read more.
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett joins 'Tucker Carlson Tonight'
“Buildings like this do not fall in America,” Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Thursday night. “This is a third-world phenomenon, and it’s shocking.”
He said the “disturbing” collapse was reminiscent of the fall of the Twin Towers in New York City following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. It’s not immediately clear what caused the collapse, and Miami-Dade officials said they did not expect to have answers any time soon. Investigators were not expected to enter the rubble until the search and rescue mission had concluded.
Rescue efforts are still underway, with 1 person dead, 99 unaccounted for and more than three dozen people rescued from the building. Still, Burkett said "it's frightening" to think how many more victims may have perished in the collapse.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis arrives in Surfside ahead of a news briefing on the deadly condo collapse. (Jordan Early/Fox News)
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday declared a state of emergency in Miami-Dade County after the Champlain Towers South apartment building collapsed in Surfside.
County Mayor Daniella Levine had also declared a state of emergency and asked the governor do the same in order to receive streamlined state resources for the recovery effort, which was still underway as of Thursday evening, hours after the collapse.
President Biden also said earlier in the day that the federal government and FEMA were prepared to provide further assistance once DeSantis formally declared the emergency.
Relatives of Champlain Towers South victims hope to be reunited with their loved ones at a family reunification center set up by authorities. (Jordan Early/Fox News)
The crowdfunding website GoFundMe has set up a centralized hub for users to find verified fundraisers connected with the deadly apartment building collapse outside Miami.
The company also highlighted a verified, general relief fund to aid displaced residents and their families.
Authorities were still searching for survivors more than 16 hours after the partial collapse of the high-rise residential structure. At least 99 people remained unaccounted for, one person was confirmed deceased and 102 building residents had been accounted for.
A partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South high rise left dozens of people unaccounted for early Thursday morning. (Jordan Early/Fox News)
Miami-Dade fire officials said rescuers have heard "what sounds like banging" from within the rubble, but not voices, as they continue to search for survivors of the Champlain Towers South collapse.
Thirty-seven people have been pulled from the structure so far, and the portions of the building that did not collapse have been evacuated. At least 99 people remain unaccounted for.
Video shared to Twitter by Florida Sun Sentinel reporter Chris Perkins shows Miami Heat members dropping off bottled water and other supplies for first responders and aid workers.
Perkins notes the collapsed apartment building was just 12 miles away from FTX Arena.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava delivers a news briefing on the Champlain Towers collapse.
At least 99 people remain missing, but 102 residents have been accounted for after 15 hours of searching, according to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue personnel work near the site of a partially collapsed building, Thursday, June 24, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. A wing of a 12-story beachfront condo building collapsed with a roar in a town outside Miami early Thursday, trapping residents in rubble and twisted metal. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Following the deadly partial collapse of the Champlain Towers apartment building in Surfside, Fla, state Sen. Annette Taddeo is calling for changes to building inspection rules.
"Buildings need to be inspected much sooner than 40 years, especially in a county where sea level rise can affect a foundation," she tweeted Thursday.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel walk with an empty stretcher past the scene where a wing of a 12-story beachfront condo building collapsed, Thursday, June 24, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
The search continues for survivors but the Miami-Dade Mayor's Office has upped the missing persons count to 99
A woman cries on the hood of a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue vehicle, unable to reach family members who lived in the collapsed Champlain Towers South high rise in Surfside, Fla. (Jordan Early/Fox News)
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said on Thursday that the "worst has yet to come" after the devastating collapse of the Champlain Towers in South Florida.
The FBI's Miami Division tells Fox News its offering its "full assistance" into the investigation of the building collapse.
“Any information about the rescue and recovery operation or any investigation will come from local authorities," it added in a statement.
(AP)
People lie on cots as they wait for news at the family reunification center.
(AP)
From the beach, people look at the damage at the 12-story oceanfront Champlain Towers South Condo building.
A police vehicle parked outside the Champlain Towers South collapse site on Collins Avenue in Surfside, Fla. (Jordan Early/Fox News)
President Biden tells Fox News' Peter Doocy he's been briefed and spoken to local officials about the Surfside, Fla. building collapse.
Separately, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a tweet that Biden "offered the full support of the federal gov. to help our community during this difficult time.
"We continue to work with local, state, & federal agencies as we respond to this tragedy and do everything we can to support the impacted families," she added.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a news briefing on the search for survivors following a high rise collapse in Surfside, Fla., just outside Miami. (Jordan Early/Fox News)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is hailing the first responders who are searching the rubble of the partially-collapsed Champlain Towers South building.
“They were on that scene before we knew whether there would be more collapse. We didn’t know whether the building had any structural integrity and they were shepherding people to safety and they absolutely saved people’s lives,” he said. “We really appreciate all that they have done and they are continuing to do.”
Story upon story of the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South high rise appear indistinguishable after the building crumbled early Thursday morning in Surfside, Fla. (Jordan Early/Fox News)
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue is asking tenants of Champlain Towers South to "please complete a Wellness Check Form as part of Miami-Dade County's efforts to ensure all tenants of the building are located."
Miami-Dade County Commissioner Sally Heyman told Fox News that as of 10 a.m. local time this morning, 51 people remain unaccounted for.
Fire officials also have tweeted out video of a command center set up to coordinate the search and rescue efforts.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is giving an update on the building collapse.
A synagogue in Surfside that had several members who lived in the building circulated a list of those missing at the family reunification center, asking for prayers. (Jordan Early/Fox News)
Belle Harbor Shul, a local synagogue, is asking for prayers for those who remain unaccounted for.
(AP/Miami Herald)
Fire rescue personnel conduct a search and rescue with dogs through the rubble of the Champlain Towers South Condo after the building partially collapsed.
(Jordan Early/Fox News)
Locals await more information at a family reunification center set up in the wake of the collapse.
Aaron Miles says he saw debris and dust everywhere earlier this morning following the collapse of Champlain Towers South. (Jordan Early/Fox News)
Aaron Miles, who was staying in a building next to Champlain Towers South this morning, described to Fox News the chaos that unfolded following the collapse.
“When I woke up the alarms were going off in our building,” he said. “I opened the curtains and looked out and I just saw debris and dust everywhere.”
Miles says while evacuating his own building, people were “screaming down the stairs, panicking.
“When you got in the lobby it was smoke, dust and debris from people running in and out the doors. It was terrifying,” he added. “It was probably one of the most terrifying experiences I have had in my life.”
(AP/South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
An aerial image of the Champlain Towers South Condo building collapse.
So far, 35 people have been retrived safely from the building. (AP/Miami Herald)
A Miami-Dade Police helicopter flies over the Champlain Towers South Condo building after part of it collapsed earlier this morning.
Miami-Dade County Commissioner Sally Heyman tells Fox News that as of 10 a.m. local time this morning, 51 people remain unaccounted for following the building collapse in Surfside.
Heyman says the building’s 136 units are occupied by full-time residents, families, snowbirds and short-term renters.
“From the occupancy known, 51 are unaccounted for at this time,” she said. “Unfortunately now the scene has been more difficult to work because there was a thunderstorm in the area, so even the first responders had to clear until it was ok to go back in.”
Heyman also says “I am a person of hope... I’m going to be optimistic that the possibility remains that as they continue to search part of the recovery will be survivors.”
A local resident tells WSVN that his family’s friends and their young daughter were inside the Champlain Towers South building when it collapsed this morning – and he has since been unable to make contact with them.
“I came running here trying to see what is going on and when I saw the building, I just couldn’t believe myself," he said. "I am just hoping that I am dreaming and the alarm sounds and I’m like ‘ok, it’s a dream, a bad dream’.”
(Jordan Early/Fox News)
Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami was a hauntingly quiet scene where only two victims from the over 150 missing were taken. An eerie picture that some would describe as similar to 9/11 where we were expecting victims but no one showed up to hospitals.
Surveillance footage obtained by WSVN shows the moment the Champlain Towers South apartment building collapsed early this morning.
Jackson Memorial Hospital sent this picture to Fox News' Jordan Early of doctors and nurses preparing to bring blood to the scene of the 'catastrophic' collapse.
Rescue workers had to amputate a woman's leg in order to pull her out from the rubble, the Orlando Sentinel is reporting.
Emergency workers believe they have cleared out all the survivors from the Champlain Towers South building, the newspaper adds.
Meanwhile, Surfside Commissioner Eliana Salzhauer told the Miami Herald that the building was beginning its 40-year recertification and its roof was being redone, but it's unclear yet whether that played a role in the collapse this morning.
A survivor from the building collapse tells NBC 6 that she opened her sliding glass door and saw a plume of dust, then “I opened the door and I saw that the building had pancaked in the back.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis describes the collapse as "a really, really tragic situation.
"We'll hope for the best in terms of additional recoveries, but we are bracing for some bad news just given the destruction that we're seeing," he told reporters Thursday morning.
Charles Burkett, the mayor of Surfside, Fla., speaks following the apartment building collapse.
Charles Burkett, the mayor of Surfside, describes the collapse as “beyond crazy.
“This doesn’t happen in first world countries, buildings just don’t fall down like this,” he says. “This is inexplicable. We just don’t have any answers right now, but we will get them.”
Burkett added that tracking dogs are not getting hits for survivors.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue says it has pulled 35 people who were trapped inside the building following the collapse. Two of those people were found amongst the rubble.
Search and rescue efforts remain ongoing.
Champlain Towers South has more than 130 units and about half of those have collapsed, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava says.
“Our prayers are with the residents, with the families, with the community,” she told reporters.
Here is what the exterior of the building looked like prior to the partial collapse. (Google Maps)
An aerial view of where 8777 Collins Ave is located in Surfside, Fla. (Google Maps)
Cohen says he opened the door to his hallway to find a "gaping hole" nearby.
Barry Cohen, a resident of the building which partially collapsed, told reporters Thursday that "at first it sounded like a crash of lightning, thunder.
"But then it just kept on steadily for at least 15 to 30 seconds, just kept on going and going and going," he added.
Cohen says he was retrieved from his apartment in a crane operated by firefighters.
Florida officials are holding a press conference on the building collapse in Surfside.
Miami Dade Fire Rescue is conducting search and rescue at the scene. (AP)
At least one person has died Thursday as a result of the apartment building collapse in Surfside, Fla., according to the Miami-Dade Police Department.
"We are working together with @MiamiDadeFire and other agencies as they continue their search and rescue mission," the department added in a tweet.
The scene of the partially collapsed building in Surfside, Fla. (AP)
Dozens of rescuers in South Florida are searching for survivors Thursday after an apartment building partially collapsed, prompting a massive emergency response.
Surfside police told Fox News it is unclear how many people were inside the building at the time, but a firefighter on the scene could be heard saying there are multiple casualties.
"Over 80 MDFR units including #TRT (Technical Rescue Teams) are on scene with assistance from municipal fire departments," Miami Dade Fire Rescue said in a tweet.
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