A 12-story apartment building in Miami collapsed at about 1:30 am on Thursday, leaving one person dead and 99 others missing.
Hundreds of rescue teams continue to search through rubbles to locate the possible victims as heartbroken and desperate loved ones wait for news of survivors.
One woman has been declared dead but authorities have warned the death toll could rise as there were still 99 people missing as of Thursday afternoon.
Surveillance video obtained by WSVN captured the tragic moment the Chaplain Towers South beachfront building collapsed.
Authorities said the level of destruction made the collapse appear like a ‘bomb went off.’
Rescue crews are entering the wreckage with equipment and dogs as they search for any survivors. According to NBC6, a dog managed to track down two potential survivors.
Hundreds of families waited at a reunification center holding pictures of their loved ones.
As the search continued, officers were probing the cause of the collision.
Constructed in 1981, the building was going through a recertification process and that engineers were hired for structural and electrical repairs.
But experts who studied the building said that the structure was unstable and had been sinking since the 1990s.
According to reports, 35 people have been rescued from the wreckage, including a young boy who was pictured being pulled from large debris.
Authorities say more people may remain trapped under the rubble or may be dead, warning recovery efforts could last a week.
“Right now, we have the fire rescue. They are in search and rescue mode. They are trying to identify survivors, I know they have made contact with some, and I know they are doing everything they can to save lives,” said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said: “The building was literally pancaked. 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.”
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