Miami building collapse: No more survivors found overnight as fire hinders rescue efforts
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Your support makes all the difference.There has been no update to the number of survivors from the Miami building collapse overnight on Friday, officials said.
Rescue teams were still working to locate 159 unaccounted for people after the 12-storey Champlain Towers South building fell on Thursday. Four people have been confirmed dead.
One problem impacting the search efforts was a fire that’s burning deep within the rubble from the collapse.
Authorities were now working to locate the source of the fire, or fires, while also finding ways to still search for any possible survivors.
More fatalities are expected as authorities warned the number of missing from the collapsed apartment complex in Florida could increase from the current figure of 159.
Meanwhile, a researcher at Florida International University has revealed that the building had been sinking into the ground since the 1990s.
Firefighters rescued 35 people from the Champlain Tower South building that collapsed in the middle of the night on Thursday in Surfside, a beachside town just 6 miles (9.6 km) north of Miami.
Those with family members who may have been in the building at the time of its collapse are asked to call 305-614-1819. More information here.
Biden may visit Florida next week
President Biden is recieving regular updates throughout the day on the building collapse in Surfside, a White House official said.
What remarks the US President will make today on the collapse today are not yet known, but he is expected to address the tragedy.
It is thought that he may visit Florida next week although a White House official said: “We will stay in touch with the officials on the ground and determine if and when that would be appropriate — current focus is on and should be on rescue and recovery,” reported CNN.
Building had been sinking for decades, says researcher at Florida International University
According to a researcher at Florida International University the building which partially collapsed on Thursday had been sinking for decades.
According to a study carried out by Shimon Wdowinski, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environment, the building had been sinking at an alarming rate since the 1990s.
Mr Wdowinski said that when he saw the news that the Champlain Towers South condominium, built in 1981 had collapsed, he remembered it immediately from the study.
“I looked at it this morning and said, ‘Oh my god.’ We did detect that,” he said.
Mr Wdowinski added that his research was not meant to suggest certainty about what caused the collapse. He explained that the building was sinking at a rate of two millimeters per year in the 1990s. He said that this rate could have slowed or accelerated in the time since.
The professor added that in his experience, even the level of sinking observed in the 1990s would typically result in impacts to buildings and their structures.
He added that this could very well have been the case for the Champlain building.
“It was a byproduct of analysing the data. We saw this building had some kind of unusual movement,” Mr Wdowinski said.
Paraguay’s First Lady in Florida as search for sisters continues
Paraguay’s First Lady Silvana López Moreira has arrived in Florida as the search continues for her sister and the family of her sister, following the building collapse.
The first lady, her parents and her brother in law’s parents arrived in Florida Thursday, CNN reported.
The sister of the first lady, Sophia López Moreira, her husband Luis Pettengill and their three children had travelled to the United States to receive Covid-19 vaccinations when the Miami building collapsed, according to Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Euclides Acevedo.
They are among the six Paraguayans who remain unaccounted for following the building collapse.
“The Foreign Ministry is in permanent communication with the Presidency and everything we know about the Miami consulate and everything that concerns this tragic situation; we are sharing with them,” Mr Acevedo explained.
What we know about how the Miami building collapsed
It took just 12 seconds for the east section of the Champlain Towers South condominium to fully collapse to the ground, before the building was engulfed in a cloud of dust.
Almost half of the building fell, out of a total of 136 apartments, 55 collapsed.
In total, 159 people remain unaccounted for since the collapse. Four have been pronounced dead but are yet to be identified. A further 120 individuals have been accounted for.
Search efforts are ongoing.
Florida Governor to visit Surfside
Florida Governor Ron Desantis will return to Surfside on Friday afternoon. Whilst there he will also be making a visit to the Family Assistance Centre.
“Due diligence” will be undertaken to determine what happened in collapse, town manager says
Surfside Town Manager Andy Hyatt said that the town will be undertaking “due diligence” into what happened at Champlain Towers, as well as checking on other buildings in the area. The Town Manager added that a nationally renowned structural engineer was being brought in to aid in the investigative effort.
Meanwhile, the cause of the collapse remains unknown although a professor at Florida International University’s Institute of Environment said that the building had been sinking into the ground since the 1990s.
Inspections were carried out on the building recently and roofing work was being done.
“Our building official had been on the roof. They are doing some roofing work there and it was fine,” Mr Hyatt said.
Kenneth Direktor, who acts as attorney for the association of residents at the condo, said that the building had been through “thorough engineering inspections over the last several months.” This was in preparation for compliance with a 40-year certification.
Citizens from six Latin American countries missing
A total of 31 people from six Latin American countries are still unaccounted for since the collapse of a building in Florida.
They come from:
- Colombia 6
- Argentina 9
- Paraguay 6
- Venezuela 6
- Uruguay 3
- Chile 1
Attorney General Merrick Garland expresses his condolences
US Attorney General Merrick Garland began a press conference on Friday by expressing his condolences over the building collapse in Surfside, Florida.
“I know how difficult it is for the families who have lost, and for those who are waiting to hear,” he said.
The attorney general also expressed his “great gratitude” for the first responders, and pledged the federal government’s continuing support for the rescue effort.
“I know that the federal government is providing assistance to the state and local governments, and we stand ready as things develop to provide more assistance if it is required,” he said.
How to help the community in Surfside, Florida
For anyone who wishes to help those affected by the Surfside building collapse, Miami-Dade’s fire department is directing people to a charity website specifically for this disaster.
“We’ve received many messages asking how to help those impacted by this devastating incident,” Miami-Dade Fire Rescue tweeted. “We encourage those that want to help #SupportSurfside to visit http://supportsurfside.org.”
The website features a page where users can donate to help with the rescue and relief effort.
Some rescuers are using methods learned after 9/11 and Oklahoma City bombing
An emergency planner says many of the techniques used in the search for survivors in Surfside were learned in the aftermath of 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing, the New York Times has reported.
Michael Fagel, who worked on the rescue efforts after both terrorist attacks, told the Times the searches taught him and his crew the importance of silence.
“We would actually stop the mission for five minutes,” Mr Fagel said of the 1995 search in Oklahoma. “You’d have three blasts of an air horn. And you would listen. You hear a moan. You hear a whisper. You hear a breathing sound.”
Mr Fagel said the search through the rubble in Florida is likely using the same method.
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