Tall & Urban News

Part of a 13-story residential building collapsed early 24 June, 2021 in the South Florida community of Surfside, killing at least one person and sparking an intense search and rescue effort, officials said.

Two people have been pulled from the rubble and 35 others have been evacuated from standing portions of the building since the collapse happened at around 1:30 a.m., Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Ray Jadallah said.

About 55 of the building's 136 units collapsed, Jadallah said. One side of the building fell, leaving huge piles of rubble.
One person has died, Surfside Mayor Charles W. Burkett told reporters hours before Jadallah spoke. Jadallah did not speak about the conditions of the two people helped from the scene.

Rescuers helped a boy from the debris, a witness said, and video showed responders helping others leave the standing portions of the building, sometimes using a bucket atop a fire truck's ladder.

"This is a horrific catastrophe. In the United States, buildings just don't fall down," Burkett said.
Rescue teams scrambled to the scene—8777 Collins Avenue—a few miles north of Miami Beach.

Kimberly Morales told CNN she lives in the building across the street from the collapse and was awakened by alarms going off and pounding on her door.

"I woke everyone up in the room because when I looked out the window, I saw everyone outside," she told CNN. "I told everyone to hurry up and leave the building."

Morales said she didn't hear the collapse but when she went outside, she saw a significant portion of the building was missing. She's now in a community center with other evacuees, she said.

Besides two people being taken to hospitals, 10 were assessed and treated at the scene, Jadallah said.
The building was undergoing roof work, but it's unknown whether this was a factor in the collapse, the mayor said.

This is a rapidly developing story. 

For more on this story, go to CNN.