Four dead, 159 missing in Miami building collapse

(Reuters), 25 June, 2021-Rescue workers scouring the debris of a collapsed condo building in a Miami suburb said they heard sounds in the rubble overnight, as officials on Friday raised the number of people unaccounted for to 159 and the confirmed death toll to four.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told reporters that three more bodies were pulled from the wreckage overnight. Another person was reported to have died on Thursday. The mayor also increased the number of presumed missing after authorities put the number at 99 on Thursday.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Assistant Fire Chief Ray Jadallah said they heard sounds in the rubble overnight, but said it could be either falling debris or people tapping. “We are listening for sounds, human sounds and tapping,” he said, as rescuers use shovels and jackhammers to tunnel under the debris to find pockets where survivors could be.

On Thursday, search teams detected sounds of banging and other noises but no voices coming from the mounds of debris.

Early that morning, a large section of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, a barrier island town across Biscayne Bay from the city of Miami, crumbled to the ground, authorities said. Cava on Friday said that rescue teams were “incredibly motivated” to find anyone who might have survived the collapse.