Miami collapse: there are four confirmed deaths | There are 159 missing, including nine Argentines

After a building collapsed in Miami, This Friday it was confirmed that at least four people died and 159 are still missing, including 9 Argentines. Confirmation came from Miami-Dade County Vice Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.

“Unfortunately tonight it was very difficult because we have four people dead, but we have news of 120 people who are safe and 159 that we cannot find,” Levine Cava explained at a press conference. . The deputy mayor asked for “patience and hope” and explained that they would give more details as possible.

Thursday morning, the disappearance of four Argentines was reported, even if over the hours, at least ten Argentines were mentioned. One of them was located: “He was put on the list by mistake,” diplomatic sources reported. There are still nine nationals whose fate is unknown.

Miami-Dade County rescue teams worked four hours through the night looking for survivors of the collapsed building, authorities said at a press conference.

“This operation started very early and it only stops when we find survivors and the people we’re looking for “said Fire Department spokeswoman Erika Benitez, spokesperson for the Miami-Dade Fire Department.

State of emergency due to collapse

The collapse happened Thursday morning at a 12-story building located between 88th and Collins Avenue in Surfside, near Miami Beach. Local authorities have confirmed that 35 people have been rescued so far and that at least 10 people have been injured.

As rescue teams continue, Florida Governor Ron De Santis has declared a state of emergency in Miami.

“A region where there are a lot of Argentines”

The Argentine consul in Miami, Leandro Fernández Suárez, said in a dialogue with A24 that it is “an area where there are a lot of Argentines”.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs initially confirmed the disappearance of four Argentines. Then it was referred to a surgeon, his partner and their little girl. The fourth person was an adult male. Then five other people were added to the possible victims.

In the building too the actors Nicolás Vázquez and Gimena Accardi were there. The couple managed to get out of the Champlain Towers before the collapse.

The two confirmed via their Instagram accounts that they are doing fine. “We are fine, thank you very much for worrying”, thanked Accardi., while Vázquez affirmed that “thank God we are doing well”. “Thanks for the concern,” the actor concluded.

The procedure to confirm the situation of the Argentinian men and women who were there begins with a call from the interested parties to the Argentinian consulate in Miami. From there, the questioning is taken to the local police, who check every name on the lists of missing persons and citizens who have been referred to hospitals. Once this body has been assembled, the qualification is established for each particular case.

The twelve-story building collapsed around 1 a.m. on Thursday and several witnesses claimed to have felt a shake. A team of 80 Miami Dade firefighters conducted search and rescue operations amid the rubble, while police blocked nearby roads to prevent the passage of vehicles and pedestrians.

The Champlain towers complex

This complex of buildings is next to Miami Beach and a few blocks from the neighborhood known as “little Buenos Aires”, where many Argentines reside who emigrated in 2001.

The building, which opened in 1981, was undergoing roof repairs, something that shouldn’t have caused the crash, according to the Mayor of Surfside. Professor Joseph Philip Colaco of Florida International University (FIU) told Efe that it was still premature to draw any conclusions in the absence of data on the building and in particular on the ongoing work on the roof of the structure. .

Colaco points out that there may be other possible scenarios, such as for example that the sea salt of this building located on the seafront has penetrated possible cracks in its balconies and corroded its structure. He also refers to the work that was underway in a neighboring building and recalls that parts of the city of Miami are sinking due to rising sea levels.

From the outside you can see the remains of what appeared to be a living room and two rows of rooms as well as air conditioners hanging from their cables above a tangle of iron and tons of cement that fell from this building. . Search efforts are being led by Miami-Dade County firefighters with the help of trained dogs and were hampered by rain that fell this morning on a gray day in South Florida.

The great fear is the possibility that the building, whose apartments have been sold for prices ranging from 500 thousand to over 900 thousand dollars, according to specialized sites, will collapse completely while the research tasks are carried out. For this reason, not only the Champlain towers were evacuated, but also the neighboring buildings.