The number of recovered fatalities in Miami has been rising for days. Shortly before the US President’s visit, the authorities report a particularly devastating find.
Miami – Less than a week after the partial collapse of a twelve-story apartment building in Miami, Florida, the death toll has continued to rise. As it became known on Wednesday evening (June 30, 2021), the number of victims rescued from the rubble increased to 18 – including two children between the ages of four and ten. 145 people are still missing, so it is feared that the number of deaths will rise significantly.
US President Joe Biden announced that he would visit the scene of the accident, where the emergency services are still desperately looking for the victims. Together with his wife Jill Biden, he wants to thank the rescuers in Surfside near Miami and provide support to families who continue to fear for the lives of their relatives, as the White House announced.
After house collapse in Miami: six more fatalities recovered from the rubble
On Wednesday (local time) alone, the local authorities announced that a total of six more fatalities had been found by evening. The mayor of the Miami-Dade district, Daniella Levine Cava, said on Wednesday evening at the scene of the accident that the most recently recovered victims were two children aged four and ten. She complained that any loss of life was a tragedy, but the loss of children was “unbearable” and “terrible”.
While helpers and emergency services continue to search for people buried in the rubble of the collapsed house in Miami (Florida), new details keep coming out. ABC News has received a video from an eyewitness showing the building complex just minutes before it collapsed. According to this, water runs out of the ceiling of the parking garage and rubble lies on the floor. Adriana Sarmiento, who was on vacation with her husband in a nearby hotel, filmed the scenes shortly before the collapse and tried to reach the residents and tell them about it.
House collapse in Miami: eyewitness tried to warn residents
But according to her testimony, they thought she was exaggerating, because something like that couldn’t happen in America. A few minutes later it comes to the devastating collapse that has so far cost 18 people their lives.
The building close to the beach with around 130 residential units had partially collapsed last week on Thursday night (June 24th, 2021) for an unexplained cause. The misfortune surprised people in their sleep. Since then, a desperate search for possible survivors has been going on. Several hundred rescuers are on duty around the clock – with sniffer dogs, special cameras, listening instruments and heavy equipment. Shortly after the collapse, emergency teams were initially able to save several dozen people. In the past few days, however, the authorities have only announced gloomy news. The death toll rose steadily.
House in Miami collapsed – President Biden travels to the site of the accident
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the Bidens wanted to “thank the heroic forces, the rescue teams and everyone who worked tirelessly around the clock” during their visit to the scene of the accident. They also wanted to offer comfort to loved ones “who were forced to endure this terrible tragedy.” Psaki had emphasized on Monday (June 28th, 2021) that the president did not want to hinder the salvage work with a hasty visit.
The local police made it clear that the search work would continue unabated on Thursday (01.07.2021) despite Biden’s visit. The visit of the president and the first lady was a “great message” for the families, said a police representative. “We are very grateful that the President is coming.” This does not affect the search. “That won’t be a problem.” (Msb with dpa)
