Miami Building Collapse, Several Feared Dead, Dozens Missing

One person was feared dead and dozens of people are feared missing Friday morning, a day after the 12-story building collapsed in Miami, Florida State. Only one person had been confirmed dead, but officials feared that number could increase as rescue operations are still on.A video of the collapse showed the center of the building appearing to tumble down first and a section nearest to the ocean teetering and coming down seconds later, as a huge dust cloud swallowed the neighborhood.

Video of the #Miami #miamibuildingcollapse pic.twitter.com/wdeKg7KWzG

— Tim Othy (@TheGlobalCoin) June 24, 2021

‘’These are very difficult times, and things are going to get more difficult as we move forward,” Miami-Dade Police Director Freddy Ramirez said.

MBPD and @MiamiBeachFire are assisting the Town of Surfside at a partial building collapse located at 8777 Collins Avenue in Surfside, Florida. Multiple police and fire agencies from across Miami-Dade are assisting. Please follow @MiamiDadeFire for updated information. pic.twitter.com/8tORIfZfjY

— Miami Beach Police (@MiamiBeachPD) June 24, 2021

Fire Rescue personnel and others continue to work to remove the debris in hopes of finding survivors. Officials said that they are yet to determine the cause for the collapse.

NOW: Partial-building collapse in Surfside Florida near Miami Beach. Miami/Dade Fire and Rescue Team searching for bodies. This is horrific.pic.twitter.com/pwLy5fepR0

— Katie Daviscourt🇺🇸 (@KatieDaviscourt) June 24, 2021

About half the building's which has around 130 units were affected, and rescuers pulled at least 35 people from the wreckage in the first hours after the collapse. Rescuers were tunneling into the wreckage from below, going through the building's underground parking garage.

The building named  Champlain, which was built in 1981 in Surfside, a small suburb northwest of Miami. Police gave the building's location as 8777 Collins Avenue, the address of the 12-storey Champlain Towers. The city of Surfside runs along Collins Avenue, north of Miami Beach city limits. People who were outside the building area said that they heard a loud noise like an explosion and when they turned around there was a huge cloud of dust and it was similar to the scenes of 9/11 in the past.