Florida Building Collapse: Rescue team intenfies search as almost 159 people still missing

A rescue team has intensified efforts to search through the 12-story residential which collapsed on Thursday June 24, 2021, in the South Florida town of Surfside.

According to report gathered by New York Parrot, not less than 159 people have yet to be unaccounted for.

An official who has the knowledge of the incident reported that about 55 of the 136 units at Champlain Towers South collapsed around 1:30 a.m.

He said the collapse left a huge piles of rubble on the ground and materials dangled from the structure.

Miami-Dade Police spokesperson Alvaro Zabaleta stated that At least 99 people were unaccounted for as of Thursday afternoon.

“At least one person died because of the collapse, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said. “A total of 102 people have been accounted for,” she said.

A large section of the oceanfront Champlain Towers in Surfside crumbled to the ground at about 01:00 (05:00 GMT) on Thursday.

Residents reported that it sounded like thunder, and it looked like a bomb had exploded.

“When we opened the door, there was no building there, it was just a pile of rubble,” a resident said.

Eyewitnesses reported that they heard what sounded like thunder before seeing a huge cloud of dust in the aftermath of the collapse.

One of the eyewitnesses compared the scene to the 11 September 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York.