Surfside building collapse: Condo firefighters honour missing children with touching tribute

Witness says ‘they placed the toys, and they had tears in their eyes’

Firefighters are reportedly collecting toys found in the rubble of the Surfside, Miami, building collapse and adding them to a makeshift memorial for missing children.

The items include a Winnie the Pooh bear with a red shirt that reads “Baby’s 1st Pooh Bear”.

“Yesterday, I saw a group of five firefighters. They walked toward the memorial, and they were holding toys,’’ a man told CBS12 News at the scene of the makeshift memorial.

“And they placed the toys, and they had tears in their eyes,’’ said the man, who was unidentified.

“It’s incredible, it’s just so powerful to think that maybe one of those toys belonged to a child who is unfortunately no longer with us,’’ he added.

Toys can be seen lining the makeshift memorial, where posters and images of loved ones lost in the collapse of Champlain Towers South have been put up.

Pictures show firefighters, who have been at the collapsed tower in Surfside since the early hours of Thursday morning, when the tragedy unfolded.

So far, officials say 150 people are missing in the rubble and 11 have been found dead, although time is running out in the search for survivors.

A Nerf gun pulled from the rubble at the memorial (REUTERS)

US president Joe Biden is due to visit Surfside on Thursday, and will likely meet with families of the victims of the collapse.