At least one person has died and many more are trapped after a wing of a 12-storey apartment building collapsed in Miami, America.
The apartment building collapsed on Thursday morning around 1:30 am local time which trapped residents in rubble and twisted metal.
Nearly 100 people were unaccounted for around midday, with authorities fearing the death toll could rise sharply.
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett described the building as “literally pancaked”.
“That is heartbreaking because it doesn’t mean, to me, that we are going to be as successful as we wanted to be in finding people alive,” he said.
Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, the state’s fire marshal, said that there are teams of 10 to 12 rescuers entering the rubble at a time with dogs and other equipment.
“They’re not going to stop just because of nightfall,” Mr Patronis told Miami television station WPLG.
“They just may have a different path they pursue.”
Surfside City Commissioner Eliana Salzhauer is demanding answers as the building was undergoing county-mandated 40-year recertification.
A building inspector was on-site Wednesday and the process was believed to be proceeding without difficulty.
“I want to know why this happened,” Ms Salzhauer said.
“That’s really the only question. … And can it happen again? Are any other of our buildings in town in jeopardy?”
