Hundreds of fire and rescue workers scoured through tons of rubble after a 12-story oceanfront residential building partially collapsed just north of Miami Beach early Thursday, leaving at least one person dead and at least 10 injured, officials said.
Dozens of people were evacuated from the building and from a nearby hotel, but it was not known how many more casualties there could be as the search and rescue operation was still continuing, officials said.
The building in the town of Surfside, Florida, about 15 miles (24 km) north of Miami on the Atlantic coast, partially collapsed about 2 a.m. (0600 GMT), for reasons unknown, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told the media.
“It’s hard to imagine how this could have happened,” Burkett said. “Buildings just don’t fall down.”
The Miami-Dade Police have assumed control of the investigation as to why the building collapsed. More than 80 fire and rescue units the Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue Department said in a tweet early Thursday.
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