Florida building collapse: 4 dead, 159 missing

Miami, Florida: With three more bodies found from the debris overnight, the death toll in the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers condo complex in Surfside, near Miami, reached four. Overall 159 people were unaccounted for according to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava of Miami-Dade County.
‘I want to be clear about the numbers, they’re very fluid,’ she said at a Friday morning news conference, a report in New York Times said.
Teams of firefighters and urban search-and-rescue squad were rotating work at the site, said Ray Jadallah, a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue assistant chief.
Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida said on Thursday that search-and-rescue teams had made contact with some people in the wreckage of the 12-story, 136-unit residential complex, the NYT report said. Emergency workers heard sounds and bangs late Thursday afternoon, Chief Jadallah said — but no voices.
The building was home to a mix of retirees and well-off professionals with young families. Fifty-five units were affected by the collapse, Ms. Levine Cava said.
President Biden on Friday approved an emergency declaration, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist. ‘I say to the people of Florida: Whatever help you want, the federal government can provide,’ he said.
The building was constructed in 1981.