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This aerial photo shows part of the 12-story oceanfront Champlain Towers South Condo that collapsed early Thursday, June 24, 2021 in Surfside, Fla. (Amy Beth Bennett /South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)
SURFSIDE, Fla. (AP) - A wing of a 12-story beachfront condo building collapsed with a roar in a town outside Miami early Thursday, killing at least one person and trapping residents in rubble and twisted metal. Rescuers pulled dozens of survivors from the tower during the morning and continued to look for more.
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett warned that the death toll was likely to rise, saying the building manager told him the tower was quite full at the time of the collapse around 1:30 a.m., but the exact number of people present was unclear.
"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."
Authorities did not say what may have caused the collapse. Work was being done on the building's roof, but Burkett said he did not see how that could have been the cause.
Items and debris dangle from a section of the oceanfront Champlain Towers South Condo that partially collapsed Thursday, June 24, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami, Fla. (Susan Stocker/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)
About half of the building's roughly 130 units were affected, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told a news conference. Rescuers pulled at least 35 people from the wreckage by mid-morning, and heavy equipment was being brought in to help stabilize the structure to give them more access, Raide Jadallah of Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue said.
Sally Heyman, of the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners, said that 51 people who were thought to be in the building at the time of the collapse were unaccounted for by mid-morning - but there was a possibility that some weren't at home. The tower has a mix of seasonal and year-round residents, and while the building keeps a log of guests staying, it does not keep track of when owners are in residence, Burkett said.
People look at the damage at the 12-story oceanfront Champlain Towers South Condo that collapsed early Thursday, June 24, 2021 in Surfside, Fla.
Earlier, Burkett said two people were brought to the hospital, one of whom died. He added that 15 families walked out of the building on their own.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said officials were "bracing for some bad news just given the destruction that we're seeing."
The collapse, which appeared to affect one leg of the L-shaped tower, tore away walls and left a number of homes in the still-standing part of the building exposed in what looked like a giant dollhouse. Television footage showed bunk beds, tables and chairs still left inside. Air conditioner units hung from some parts of the building, where wires now dangled.
Piles of rubble and debris surrounded the area, and cars up to two blocks away were coated with with a light layer of dust from the debris.
Barry Cohen, 63, said he and his wife were asleep in the building when he first heard what he thought was a crack of thunder. The couple went onto their balcony, then opened the door to the building's hallway to find "a pile of rubble and dust and smoke billowing around."
"I couldn't walk out past my doorway," said Cohen, the former vice mayor of Surfside. "A gaping hole of rubble."
He and his wife made it to the basement and found rising water there. They returned upstairs, screamed for help and were eventually brought to safety by firefighters using a cherry-picker.
Cohen said he raised concerns years ago about whether nearby construction might be causing damage to the building after seeing cracked pavers on the pool deck.
People lie on cots as they wait for news at a family reunification center, after a wing of a 12-story beachfront condo building collapsed, Thursday, June 24, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
At an evacuation site set up in a nearby community center, people who live in buildings neighboring the collapse gathered after being told to flee. Some wept. Some were still dressed in pajamas. Some children tried to sleep on mats spread on the floor. When a news conference about the collapse appeared on the TV, the room went silent.
Jennifer Carr was asleep in a neighboring building when she was awakened by a loud boom and her room shook. She thought it was a thunderstorm but checked the weather app on her phone and saw none. The building's fire alarms went off, and she and her family went outside and saw the collapse.
"It was devastation," Carr said. "People were running and screaming."
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said in a tweet that more than 80 units were "on scene with assistance from municipal fire departments."
Teams of firefighters walked through the rubble, picking up survivors and carrying them from the wreckage.
Nicolas Fernandez waited early Thursday for word on close family friends who lived in the collapsed section of the building.
"Since it happened, I've been calling them nonstop, just trying to ring their cellphones as much as we can to hep the rescue to see if they can hear the cellphones."
Fire rescue personnel conduct a search and rescue with dogs through the rubble of the Champlain Towers South Condo after the multistory building partially collapsed in Surfside, Fla., Thursday, June 24, 2021. (David Santiago/Miami Herald via AP)
The seaside condo development was built in 1981 in the southeast corner of Surfside. It had a few two-bedroom units currently on the market, with asking prices of $600,000 to $700,000 in an area with a neighborhood feel that provides a stark contrast to the glitz and bustle of nearby South Beach.
The area has a mix of new and old apartments, houses, condominiums and hotels, with restaurants and stores serving an international combination of residents and tourists. The main oceanside drag is lined with glass-sided, luxury condominium buildings, but more modest houses are on the inland side. Among the neighborhood's residents are snowbirds, Russian immigrants and Orthodox Jews.
Patricia Avilez considered spending the night in her brother-in-law's vacant condo on Wednesday but didn't, only to awake to news of the collapse.
"And then I came here, and it's gone," she said. "Everything is disaster."
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Associated Press writers Tim Reynolds and Ian Mader in Miami; Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale; Bobby Caina Calvan in Tallahassee; and Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Alabama, contributed to this report.
Jennifer Carr, right, sits with her daughter as they wait for news at a family reunification center, after a wing of a 12-story beachfront condo building collapsed, Thursday, June 24, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami. Carr and her family were evacuated from a nearby building. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
In this image made from video, fire rescue crews are on the scene of a building collapse in Surfside, Miami, FL. early Thursday, June 24, 2021. A partial building collapse in Miami caused a massive response early Thursday from Miami Dade Fire Rescue, according to a tweet from the department's account. Miami Dade Fire Rescue is conducting search and rescue. Authorities had no word yet on casualties, or details of how many people lived in the building. (Jamal Akakpo via AP)
In this image made from video, officials arrive on the scene of a building collapse in Surfside, Miami, FL. early Thursday, June 24, 2021. A partial building collapse in Miami caused a massive response early Thursday from Miami Dade Fire Rescue, according to a tweet from the department's account. Miami Dade Fire Rescue is conducting search and rescue. Authorities had no word yet on casualties, or details of how many people lived in the building. (Jamal Akakpo via AP)
A partial collapsed building is seen early Thursday, June 24, 2021, in Surfside area of Miami, Fla. A partial building collapse in Miami caused a massive response early Thursday from Miami Dade Fire Rescue, according to a tweet from the department's account. Miami Dade Fire Rescue is conducting search and rescue. Authorities had no word yet on casualties, or details of how many people lived in the building. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
A partial collapsed building is seen early Thursday, June 24, 2021, in Surfside area of Miami, Fla. A partial building collapse in Miami caused a massive response early Thursday from Miami Dade Fire Rescue, according to a tweet from the department's account. Miami Dade Fire Rescue is conducting search and rescue. Authorities had no word yet on casualties, or details of how many people lived in the building. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
A partial collapsed building is seen early Thursday, June 24, 2021, in Surfside area of Miami, Fla. A partial building collapse in Miami caused a massive response early Thursday from Miami Dade Fire Rescue, according to a tweet from the department's account. Miami Dade Fire Rescue is conducting search and rescue. Authorities had no word yet on casualties, or details of how many people lived in the building. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
A light glows in a partially collapsed building early Thursday, June 24, 2021, in Surfside area of Miami, Fla. A partial building collapse in Miami caused a massive response early Thursday from Miami Dade Fire Rescue, according to a tweet from the department's account. Miami Dade Fire Rescue is conducting search and rescue. Authorities had no word yet on casualties, or details of how many people lived in the building. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
People view a partially collapsed building early Thursday, June 24, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami, Fla. A partial building collapse in Miami caused a massive response early Thursday from Miami Dade Fire Rescue, according to a tweet from the department's account. Miami Dade Fire Rescue is conducting search and rescue. Authorities had no word yet on casualties, or details of how many people lived in the building. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
A section of a partially collapsed building is seen early Thursday, June 24, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami, Fla. A partial building collapse in Miami caused a massive response early Thursday from Miami Dade Fire Rescue, according to a tweet from the department's account. Miami Dade Fire Rescue is conducting search and rescue. Authorities had no word yet on casualties, or details of how many people lived in the building. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
A partially collapsed building is seen early Thursday, June 24, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami, Fla. A partial building collapse in Miami caused a massive response early Thursday from Miami Dade Fire Rescue, according to a tweet from the department's account. Miami Dade Fire Rescue is conducting search and rescue. Authorities had no word yet on casualties, or details of how many people lived in the building. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
A partially collapsed building is seen early Thursday, June 24, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami, Fla. A partial building collapse in Miami caused a massive response early Thursday from Miami Dade Fire Rescue, according to a tweet from the department's account. Miami Dade Fire Rescue is conducting search and rescue. Authorities had no word yet on casualties, or details of how many people lived in the building. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
A partially collapsed building is seen early Thursday, June 24, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami, Fla. A partial building collapse in Miami caused a massive response early Thursday from Miami Dade Fire Rescue, according to a tweet from the department's account. Miami Dade Fire Rescue is conducting search and rescue. Authorities had no word yet on casualties, or details of how many people lived in the building. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
A partially collapsed building is seen early Thursday, June 24, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami, Fla. A partial building collapse in Miami caused a massive response early Thursday from Miami Dade Fire Rescue, according to a tweet from the department's account. Miami Dade Fire Rescue is conducting search and rescue. Authorities had no word yet on casualties, or details of how many people lived in the building. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Firefighters search a partially collapsed building early Thursday, June 24, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami, Fla. A partial building collapse in Miami caused a massive response early Thursday from Miami Dade Fire Rescue, according to a tweet from the department's account. Miami Dade Fire Rescue is conducting search and rescue. Authorities had no word yet on casualties, or details of how many people lived in the building. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Firefighters standby after a partial collapse of a building, Thursday, June 24, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami, Fla. A partial building collapse in Miami caused a massive response early Thursday from Miami Dade Fire Rescue, according to a tweet from the department's account. Miami Dade Fire Rescue is conducting search and rescue. Authorities had no word yet on casualties, or details of how many people lived in the building. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Firefighters stand by after part of a building collapsed, Thursday, June 24, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami, Fla. A partial building collapse in Miami caused a massive response early Thursday from Miami Dade Fire Rescue, according to a tweet from the department's account. Miami Dade Fire Rescue is conducting search and rescue. Authorities had no word yet on casualties, or details of how many people lived in the building. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
This aerial photo shows part of the 12-story oceanfront Champlain Towers South Condo that collapsed early Thursday, June 24, 2021 in Surfside, Fla. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)
This aerial photo shows part of the 12-story oceanfront Champlain Towers South Condo that collapsed early Thursday, June 24, 2021 in Surfside, Fla. (Amy Beth Bennett /South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)
People wait for information after a partial building collapse, Thursday, June 24, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Firefighters wait near the site of a partial building collapse, Thursday, June 24, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
A drone inspects damage on a partially collapsed building, Thursday, June 24, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
A firefighter shines a flashlight at far left as they search a building after a partial collapse, Thursday, June 24, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami, Fla. A partial building collapse in Miami caused a massive response early Thursday from Miami Dade Fire Rescue, according to a tweet from the department's account. Miami Dade Fire Rescue is conducting search and rescue. Authorities had no word yet on casualties, or details of how many people lived in the building. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Household items and debris dangle from a partially collapsed multistory beachfront condo, Thursday, June 24, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
People wait for information after a partial building collapse, Thursday, June 24, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
A Miami-Dade Police helicopter flies over the Champlain Towers South Condo after the multistory building partially collapsed, Thursday, June 24, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (David Santiago/Miami Herald via AP)
Fire rescue personnel conduct a search and rescue through the rubble of the Champlain Towers South Condo after the multistory building partially collapsed in Surfside, Fla., Thursday, June 24, 2021. (David Santiago/Miami Herald via AP)
Household items and debris dangle from Champlain Towers South Condo after the multistory building partially collapsed Thursday, June 24, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (David Santiago/Miami Herald via AP)
People look at the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside, Fla., Thursday, June 24, 2021. (David Santiago/Miami Herald via AP)
Cousins Andrea and Nellie Gonzalez wait for news at a family reunification center, after a wing of a 12-story beachfront condo building collapsed, Thursday, June 24, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami. They are vacationing from Wisconsin and had to be evacuated from a nearby building. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Fire rescue personnel conduct a search and rescue with dogs through the rubble of the Champlain Towers South Condo after the multistory building partially collapsed in Surfside, Fla., Thursday, June 24, 2021. (David Santiago/Miami Herald via AP)
Fire rescue personnel conducting search and rescue walk back with their dogs to Champlain Towers South Condo after a wing of the multistory building collapsed, in Surfside, Fla., Thursday, June 24, 2021. (David Santiago/Miami Herald via AP)
