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Miami, Florida skyscraper collapse: death toll continues to rise

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The death toll after the house collapse in Miami, Florida is rising. Rescue workers are tirelessly looking for more than 150 other missing persons.

  • Florida, USA *: In Surfside near Miami, a high-rise apartment building has collapsed.
  • 9 fatalities have been found so far – more than 150 people are still missing.
  • Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency with the support of US President Joe Biden *.

Miami – After the collapse of a twelve-story apartment building in Surfside near Miami, Florida, more fatalities were found in the rubble. The number of dead has risen to nine, said the mayor of the Miami-Dade district, Daniella Levine Cava, on Sunday (June 27th, 2021). It’s a race against time. For several days, the rescue workers in Florida have been looking for people buried in the rubble – still hoping to find survivors. The rescue teams are on duty around the clock with sniffer dogs, special cameras, listening instruments and heavy equipment.

Instead of survivors, more unidentified “human remains” have now been found, Levine Cava said at the weekend. It was not more specific. Four of the dead have so far been identified. However, this is not easy, stressed the mayor. DNA tests would be used here. DNA samples were collected from relatives for this purpose. It is to be feared that the death toll is likely to rise significantly in the next few days after the accident.

After the partial collapse of a twelve-story high-rise apartment building in the USA, more than 150 people are still missing.

© kyodo / dpa

USA: Champlain Tower in Florida collapsed – search for missing persons halts

The “Champlain Tower South” with around 130 residential units had partially collapsed on Thursday night (June 24th, 2021). The misfortune surprised people in their sleep. According to Levine Cava on Saturday evening (June 26, 2021, local time), 156 people were last missing. However, it is not certain whether the missing persons were all in the building at the time of the accident. It is a list of people who may have been in the house could. Many families fear for their loved ones.

In the meantime, a fire in the rubble had significantly hampered the search. The rescue workers had initially had difficulties locating the origin of the fire under the rubble, isolating and extinguishing it. This made the search for possible buried subjects very difficult. In the meantime, however, the fire is under control and the search work is making better progress. The emergency services had dug a kind of trench in the rubble in order to be able to comb through the mountains of rubble better.

Several people were injured in the accident at Surfside. More than 35 people have been saved so far.

After the accident in the US state of Florida, rescue workers found more deaths in the rubble of the collapsed residential high-rise.

© Giorgio Viera / AFP

Tragic accident in the USA: cause of house collapse still unclear

The cause of the partial collapse remains a mystery three days after the disaster. The residential complex dates from the 1980s. At the weekend, an inspection report from 2018 was also made public, in which experts listed several defects in the building. It is a “major structural damage” to the building. Concrete slabs were badly damaged by water damage. Whether the defects could be related to the Florida collapse remained open.

The mayor of Miami-Dade *, Levine Cava, emphasized that she was not previously aware of the report. The authorities followed up on all leads and the cause of the accident to the bottom, so that something like this never happens again, she promised. In the meantime, it will also check whether other similarly old buildings are safe. Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said a nearby building, constructed by the same contractor around the same time, is being specially inspected. Alternative accommodation will be offered for residents who do not feel safe in the building by the time the inspection is complete.

Help after house collapse in Florida: Joe Biden confirms state of emergency

In order to release additional funds and material after the accident, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had declared a state of emergency. This was confirmed by President Joe Biden on Friday (June 25th, 2021) in order to be able to make federal funds available. (iwe / dpa) * fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.

Headline list image: © Giorgio Viera / AFP

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