Surveillance video from near the Surfside, Florida, apartment building that suddenly collapsed overnight shows the horrifying moment the building simply fell in on itself, leaving dozens trapped in the rubble.
Surfside firefighters worked through the morning, searching for survivors in the rubble. So far, just one person has been reported dead, but dozens are believed to be missing.
A local news station in Miami Beach was able to obtain the footage, showing the two towers collapsing, one right after the other.
JUST IN: 7News has obtained surveillance video of the moment the Champlain Towers South Condo collapsed in Surfside early this morning.
According to a fire official, 35 people were pulled from the collapsed building. Search and rescue efforts ongoing. https://t.co/Ac7KgnJOSO pic.twitter.com/oeczbumRG9
— WSVN 7 News (@wsvn) June 24, 2021
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told NBC News that rescuers have a long road ahead and that the death count could rise precipitously. (Update: The mayor of Miami Dade Daniella Levine Cava said Friday morning that four people have died.)
Related: Death Toll Rises In Condo Collapse; Number Of Missing Persons Grows To 159
“Miami-Dade Rescue Fire said on Twitter that more than 80 technical and rescue teams were on the scene in Surfside, a few miles north of Miami Beach. Firefighters picked through the rubble, picking up survivors and carrying them from the wreckage,” the outlet reported. “Burkett said 10 people were medically treated at the scene. Two people were sent to the hospital, where one later died, he said. Search efforts in the collapsed section of the building were continuing but the way the building fell means those efforts may not be successful in recovering many people, Burkett added.”
The building, the mayor added, “literally pancaked.”
“The building is literally pancaked,” Burkett said. “That is heartbreaking because it doesn’t mean to me that we are going to be as successful as we wanted to be in finding people alive.”
“The collapse sent a cloud of debris through the neighborhood, coating cars up to two blocks away with a light layer of dust,” The Associated Press reported, per an earlier story from The Daily Wire. “Photos and video from the scene show the collapse affected half the tower. Piles of rubble and debris surrounded the area just outside the building. The department has yet to say what may have caused the collapse near 88th Street and Collins Avenue.”
Surfside Town Manager Andy Hyatt and the town’s emergency manager told media that the search and rescue effort could take into next week and Miami-Dade Emergency Management director Frank Rollason added that at least 55 of the 130 condominiums in the 12-story building were gone. “Surfside Commissioner Eliana Salzhauer told the Miami Herald that the building was beginning its 40-year recertification and its roof was being redone, but it’s unclear yet whether that played a role in the collapse this morning,” according to Fox News.
Authorities do not know how many people were in the building when it collapsed.
Although emergency personnel did not expect to find more survivors, they did make a miracle rescue early Thursday morning, pulling a young boy from the rubble, nearly unscathed.
“MIRACLE RESCUE: Firefighters pull boy from rubble alive after multi-story building partially collapses near Miami Beach,” ABC News wrote in a tweet that featured video of the rescue, per the Daily wire. “A huge search and rescue effort is ongoing.”
MIRACLE RESCUE: Firefighters pull boy from rubble alive after multi-story building partially collapses near Miami Beach.
A huge search and rescue effort is ongoing. https://t.co/eOl265Wngw pic.twitter.com/A62e5ka58v
— ABC News (@ABC) June 24, 2021
More information is expected at a press conference this afternoon.
This is a developing news story.