One person has died and at least eight are injured after the partial collapse of a residential building near Miami, Florida.
Search and rescue efforts are continuing, with firefighters searching what remains of the building.
The collapse happened just before 1:30 a.m. Thursday at the Champlain Towers South condo on Collins Avenue in Surfside, north of Miami.
An aerial-platform is used by firefighters to rescue individuals that are trapped on their balconies.
Video below:
HAPPENING NOW: Firefighters are rescuing people from balconies of Champlain Towers. Building near 88th and Collins partially collapsed overnight.
Sources confirm at least one person died. @CBSMiami @CBS4Ted @CBS4NEWSDESK @CBSNews pic.twitter.com/wqboZLuEzM
— Brooke Shafer (@BrookeShaferTV) June 24, 2021
Firefighters are seen pulling a boy from the rubble.
#Surfside
WOW! Firefighters rescued a young boy from the rubble, alive. pic.twitter.com/mrc5MGqJTG— Shane B. Murphy (@shanermurph) June 24, 2021
An interview with a resident who lives on the first floor of the condo that’s partially collapsed:
Got an interview with a resident who lives on the first floor of the condo that’s partially collapsed #Surfside pic.twitter.com/kA2zedeNJz
— Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) June 24, 2021
Here’s the moment when the building collapsed in Surfside, Florida:
JUST IN: Video I’ve obtained of the building collapse in Surfside, Florida. pic.twitter.com/BGbRC7iSI9
— Andy Slater (@AndySlater) June 24, 2021
Interior footage caught the collapse of building:
@AgendaFreeTV I am a resident of one of the condos on the side of the collapse. This is a video from my camera footage inside from the start of the collapse until the lose of connection (I was away from the building today). Towards the end, you hear the structure failing pic.twitter.com/UzBJQogUxp
— rosie✨ (@_rosiesantana) June 24, 2021
Pairing the witness interview with the interior footage, you can see how in the first few seconds it goes from dry to leaking water with some furniture having shifted (notice the mattresses leaning on the left?); which must have been the first collapse he speaks of.
Images below:
Sounds to me like it was entirely a massive structural failure of sorts, from the various witness statements.
Surfside, FL, Mayor Charles W. Burkett on the overnight 12-story condo collapse:
“The problem is the building has literally pancaked … It’s heartbreaking because it doesn’t mean, to me, that we’re going to be successful, as successful as we want to be, to find people alive.”
Surfside, FL, Mayor Charles W. Burkett on the overnight 12-story condo collapse:
“The problem is the building has literally pancaked … It’s heartbreaking because it doesn’t mean, to me, that we’re going to be successful, as successful as we want to be, to find people alive.” pic.twitter.com/lrVlpGBnaJ
— The Recount (@therecount) June 24, 2021
More from Surfside, FL, Mayor Charles W. Burkett:
“There’s no reason for this building to go down like that unless someone literally pulls out the supports from underneath, or they get washed out or there’s a sinkhole …”
“It’s less likely than a lightning strike. It just doesn’t happen. You don’t see buildings falling down in America, and here we had a building literally falling down.”
— Surfside, FL, Mayor Charles W. Burkett on overnight condo collapse pic.twitter.com/Vu5HI1gG94
— The Recount (@therecount) June 24, 2021
“It’s less likely than a lightning strike. It just doesn’t happen. You don’t see buildings falling down in America, and here we had a building literally falling down.”
— Surfside, FL, Mayor Charles W. Burkett on overnight condo collapse
“It’s less likely than a lightning strike. It just doesn’t happen. You don’t see buildings falling down in America, and here we had a building literally falling down.”
— Surfside, FL, Mayor Charles W. Burkett on overnight condo collapse pic.twitter.com/Vu5HI1gG94
— The Recount (@therecount) June 24, 2021