At Least 1 Dead, 9 Hurt In Partial Condo Building Collapse Near Miami Beach; Video Shows Boy Pulled From Rubble
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - At least one person was killed and ten people were injured overnight after a partial collapse of condo building in Surfside, Florida near Miami Beach. It happened at the Champlain Towers South, located at 8777 Collins Avenue. The section that collapsed was on the beachside of the building.
The injured were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital and Aventura Hospital.
Fire rescue units and technical rescue teams from Miami-Dade and Broward responded to the condo collapse. Electricity and water at the building have been cut off.
Ladder trucks were used to rescue people trapped on balconies. Firefighters also went floor to floor evacuating the building. At one point they were pulled out because of concerns over the building's structural integrity and falling debris.
Nicholas Balboa was in the area when the condo collapse happened.
"I was awake and on the corner when the building dropped into a plume of dust and debris kind of pushed out. I was down the street, I started to walk down, there were some other bystanders who called 911 and emergency vehicles were responding," he said.
"I was able to hear a boy that was pulled from the rubble yelling. As I got closer, I was able to see his hand sticking through the rubble waving. As he was yelling, I responded to him. I began to climb the debris to try and get to him. I used the light on my phone to signal firefighters to come over. A police officer came over and he radioed for fire rescue to come over," he added.
Firefighters were able to free the boy from the rubble.
Balboa said the boy had been trapped with his mother, but he didn't see her.
A witness told WFOR-TV he heard the condo building collapse.
"I was walking with my brothers, we were walking our dog in the neighborhood, and basically we heard a really big rumble and we thought it was a motorcycle, you know, and we turned around and saw a cloud of dust just coming our way. We were like what is going on," said a witness. "We went rushing toward it with shirts over our faces and the security guard came out and we were like what happened and she said the building collapsed."
WATCH WFOR-TV's Austin Carter On The Scene Of The Collapse
A family reunification center has been set up for anyone looking for unaccounted or missing relatives at 9301 Collins Avenue. People can also call (305) 614-1819.