Hundreds feared dead, and British mother missing, in Miami building collapse
Hundreds feared dead, and British mother missing, in Miami building collapse
Authorities are scrambling to establish what caused the tower block to fall, with some suggesting parts of the structure had corroded
A pregnant British mother, her husband and their one-year-old daughter are believed to be among 159 people still unaccounted for after an ocean front apartment block in Miami collapsed in the middle of the night.
Bhavna and Vishal Patel, along with daughter Aishani, were staying at the 12-storey Champlain Towers South building when it was reduced to rubble on Thursday, according to a family member.
Pleas have been made for help locating the family, as questions have been asked about the structural failings of the building. The building was about to be repaired for rusted steel and damaged concrete, according to a lawyer involved in the project.
Salt water from the sea can penetrate buildings and begin to corrode steel elements.
The death toll has risen to four, with 159 people unaccounted for, it was confirmed at a press conference on Friday afternoon.
Homicide detectives are working with the medical office to identify the four people who have died and contact their next of kin.
Later on Friday the Medical Examiner’s office confirmed that Stacie Fang, 54, had died from blunt force injuries associated with the collapse. Ms Fang was taken to Aventura hospital but succumbed to her injuries. She was the mother of a 16-year-old boy who was rescued.
"We do have 120 people now accounted for, which is very, very good news. But our unaccounted for number has gone up to 159," Daniella Levine Cava, the Miami-Dade County mayor, told the news conference.
She added: "We still have hope that we will find people alive. We are using dogs, sonar, everything possible to find people."
Authorities stressed it was still unclear how many people were inside the building when it collapsed in the early hours of Thursday.
President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration in the state of Florida and ordered federal assistance to supplement state and local response efforts.
"The president's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts," the White House said on Friday.
At 12:26am, FEMA declared an emergency for extra measures and 16 FEMA personnel are heading to the site, with Red Cross bringing in experts from across the country to provide necessary support for the community.
Displaced families that have been displaced will also be given temporary lodging.
Families search for their loved ones
Last night, Nicolette Brent, the UK’s Consul General in Miami, visited the family reunification centre in Surfside and said her team was “ready to help any British nationals who may have been involved in this tragic incident”.
Champlain Towers South drew people from around the globe to enjoy life on South Florida's Atlantic Coast, some for a night, some to live. A couple from Argentina and their young daughter. A retired Miami-area teacher and his wife. Orthodox Jews from Russia. Israelis. Others from South America.
They were among the nearly 159 people who remained missing Friday lunchtime.
It has been confirmed that nine Argentinians, four Venezuelans and three Uruguayans are also missing.
The sister of the Paraguay’s First Lady, along with her husband and three young children, are also missing.
Luis Pettengill, the father of the husband and grandfather to the three-year-old, six-year-old and nine-year-old, told the Telegraph: "We have to hope that they are in hospital."
The family had just arrived in Miami for a month-long holiday. Tuesday was the mother's birthday.
Standing on the beach, ashen faced, looking at the twisted metal and mounds of rubble, Mr Pettengill said: "They came here for a vacation. To swim in the sea. To have a good time. They came to a safe place."
Hundreds of firefighters, paramedics and search and rescue team members continued to comb through the rubble despite a thunderstorm overnight.
Already, there has been some success.
'How could anyone survive?'
Nicholas Balboa was walking his dog nearby when he "felt the ground shake, like an earthquake”.
The scene was like that of a horror film and reminiscent of 9/11, he told CNN.
"I was thinking to myself, ‘How could anyone survive?’" he said. "As I was thinking that, I heard a voice yelling."
As he got closer, he saw a boy "sticking his hand up through the debris and I could see his hand and fingers wiggling."
Mr Balboa called for support, and the boy, stuck under a mattress and bed frame, was freed from the rubble.
He is one of 37 people rescued so far. Some were in a much worse state.
In another case, teams saved a mother and child, but the woman's leg had to be amputated to remove her from the rubble.
Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, said: "It's a really, really tragic situation so 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."
Building was about to be repaired
A massive operation has been launched featuring drones and dogs, and involving dozens of police and firefighter units.
Surfside's town manager Andrew Hyatt told a news conference that search operations could last a week.
Mrs Levine Cava spoke with Mr Biden by telephone in the hours after the collapse.
Mr Biden said: "I say to the people of Florida, whatever help you want, that the federal government can provide, just ask us, we'll be there."
It is not yet know what caused the collapse, but the building was about to undergo significant repairs as part of its 40-year recertification, Kenneth Direktor, a lawyer representing the residents’ association, told the New York Times.
The building also showed signs of land subsidence in the 1990s, a 2020 study found.
Records showed the block was built in 1981 and had more than 130 units inside.
Piles of rubble and debris surround the area, and cars up to two blocks away have been coated with a layer of dust.
Inside the building, bunk beds, tables and chairs can be seen from the ground.
'We pray for miracles'
“This is a tragedy without precedent in the United States of America,” said congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
“The devastation that I witnessed today is the likes of which I have never seen.”
“It’s a dark and tragic day,” said Marco Rubio, a US Senator from Florida.
“From it, we continue to pray for some miracles, and we are inspired by the men and women, the heroes, who are out there right now risking their lives to hopefully rescue people.”
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