159 missing in Florida building collapse tragedy

At least four people were reported to have died after a large section of a high-rise building in Surfside city near Miami came crashing down.

About 160 people were still unaccounted for and four were confirmed to have died on Friday, a day after a large section of a seaside apartment building collapsed into a pile of rubble, with rescuers combing through concrete and metal in search of the missing.

The collapsed section of a building (above) in Surfside; relatives and locals (below) react with grief and horror after the tragedy.

Scores of firefighters were working overnight to reach any possible survivors both from under and atop the remains of the building. Hopes rested on how quickly crews using rescue dogs and microphones to sift through the wreckage could complete their grim task.

“Every time we hear a sound, we concentrate on those areas,” said assistant Miami-Dade fire chief Raide Jadallah.

Three bodies were removed overnight after one person was initially reported dead. Miami-Dade police director Freddy Ramirez said authorities were working with the medical examiner’s office to identify the victims. Eleven injuries were reported, with four people treated at various hospitals.

Officials are still saying that no cause for the building’s collapse has been determined.

Miami-Dade mayor Daniella Levine Cava said rescuers themselves were at “extreme risk” going through the rubble. “Debris is falling on them as they do their work. We have structural engineers on site to ensure they won’t be injured,” she said.

State Senator Jason Pizzo of Miami Beach told Miami Herald that he watched as tactical teams of six worked on Friday to sift through the debris. He said he saw one body taken in a yellow bag and another that was marked. They were taken to a homicide unit tent set up along the beach.

Many people remained at a reunification centre hastily set up near the site of the collapse on Friday, awaiting results of DNA swabs that could help identify victims.

Video of the collapse showed the centre of the building appearing to tumble down first and a section nearest to the ocean teetering and coming down seconds later, as a huge dust cloud swallowed the neighbourhood. About half the building’s 130 units were affected, and rescuers pulled at least 35 people from the wreckage in the first hours after the collapse.

Hit by gusty winds and rain, two heavy cranes began removing debris from the pile using large claws on Friday, creating a din of crashing glass and metal as they picked up material and dumped it to the side.