Surfside Condo Building Collapses, Up To 99 Missing
At least 55 of 136 units have been destroyed
By Chava Gourarie and Julia Echikson June 24, 2021 9:46 am
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A 12-story condo building in Surfside in Miami-Dade County partially collapsed early Thursday morning, and rescuers are still searching for survivors in the rubble.
One person is confirmed dead, and up to 99 are unaccounted for, Miami-Dade police said Thursday afternoon.
The oceanfront Champlain Towers South, at 8777 Collins Avenue, partially collapsed at around 2 a.m. Thursday morning. At least 55 of the 136 apartments in the tower were destroyed, the Miami Herald reported. Earlier, Frank Rollason, director of Miami-Dade Emergency Management, has estimated the number to be 70.
At least 35 people were pulled from the collapsed building, including two from the rubble, said a fire official during a news conference. Residents of a second tower, which does not appear to be damaged, were evacuated overnight, as was the neighboring Solara Surfside Hotel.
Earlier in the day, it was confirmed that 10 occupants were treated for injuries and two were transported to local-area hospitals, according to a tweet from Miami-Date Fire Rescue.
“The building has literally pancaked,” Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told NBC Miami. “It has gone down, and I mean there’s just feet in between stories where there were 10 feet.”
As the search and rescue operation continued, 51 residents were unaccounted for as of late Thursday morning, though they may not have been in the building at the time of the collapse, an official said, according to Reuters. That number has been revised up to 99.
The collapsed Champlain building was completed in 1981 and was undergoing renovations, though the cause of the collapse remains unclear.
“We’re bracing for bad news,” said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Thursday morning.
Surfside is an upscale beach community, just north of Miami Beach. Ocean-front apartments commonly sell for millions. Only a block away, former White House advisors Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were renting a unit at the luxurious Arte condo building.
This is a developing story.
