Daniella Levine Cava, Mayor of Miami Dade, after announcing the new death toll and missing persons: “Tonight has been very difficult”

At least four dead and 159 missing left behind by a building collapse in Surfside on Thursdaysaid the mayor of Miami-Dade County, where the Florida city is located.

“Tragically, I found out when I woke up that last night they pulled three bodies out of the rubble», He declared during a press conference Daniella Levine Cava, therefore the number of confirmed deaths passed to four. He added that “the number of missing persons rose to 159”.

The manager asked for patience at a press conference and said they were working hard. “Tonight has been very difficult», He admitted.

An as yet unknown number of residents have slept in this 12-story oceanfront building., which partially collapsed and became a mountain of ruins among which stood ravaged apartments.

“Part of the building completely collapses. There is no more“, He said Nicolas Fernandez, a 29-year-old Argentinian from Miami, who was awaiting news of friends who were staying that night at his family’s apartment in the building. “I don’t know about them. i don’t know if they are alive“He told the news agency AFP.

Dozens of firefighters and police, assisted by drones and sniffer dogs, worked through the night from Thursday to Friday, Levine Cava added.

In the early morning of Friday, President Joe Biden declared emergency and ordered federal aid for research efforts.

“President’s action gives authority to the Department of Homeland Security, the federal emergency management agency (FEMA), to coordinate all rescue efforts, “the White House said in a statement.

According to the Republican Senator from Florida Marco rubio, “almost a third of the missing are foreigners”. Many were Latin American.

The sister of the first lady of Paraguay, Sophia López Moreira, her husband and three children as well as an employee are among the missingForeign Minister Euclides Acevedo reported. Likewise, the whereabouts of nine Argentines and three Uruguayans are not known, according to consular sources from those countries.

Hope is fading away

At a community center in Surfside, relatives of the missing were crying as they waited for news. Tenants in the dilapidated building who were thankfully elsewhere when the tragedy occurred discovered they were suddenly homeless.

Eric de Moura, 40, had spent Wednesday evening with his girlfriend. “I have just returned and the scene is shocking,” he said. “There is a lot of pain. I feel blessed to be alive. “

Some 55 apartments were affected by the collapseAccording to the Miami-Dade Deputy Fire Chief, Ray jadallah.

Full-time residents lived in the building as well as people who only spent seasons there, so it’s hard to say how many were inside when it collapsed..

“It’s complicated (…) We don’t know. Hope is still there, but it is dwindling, ”said Miami-Dade County Commissioner, Sally Heyman, a CNN.

Some residents were able to escape by descending the stairs, while others were rescued from balconies.

“This is a truly tragic situation (…) We are bracing ourselves for bad news given the destruction we are witnessingThe governor of Florida told reporters, Rob DeSantis.

The Mayor of Surfside, Charles Burkett, said it is not yet clear why the property collapsed. “It’s as if a bomb had exploded, but we are sure that a bomb did not explode, so it’s something else“, He said.

According to local media, the building was constructed in 1981 and had 130 dwellings.

Heyman said CNN that the building’s roof had been repaired, although he stressed that the reasons for the collapse were unclear.

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