Fears of a rising death toll in Miami are growing after buildings collapsed

President Joe Biden declared an emergency in the state of Florida after a house building partially collapsed, killing at least one person and leaving 99 unaccounted for.

The death toll in the area north of Miami could rise as rescue teams search and clean up debris at night. Dozens of people have been pulled from the rubble.

Biden promised federal assistance to complete state and local response efforts. Emergency actions allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate “all efforts to resolve disasters,” a White House statement said Friday.

“Whatever support the federal government wants to give us, we’re waiting, just ask, we’ll be there, we’ll be there,” Biden said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in Miami-Dade County on Thursday night, which paved the way for them to come to the FEMA site and provide assistance to rescue crews and affected families.

“We still have at least 99,” Daniella Levine Cava, the mayor of Miami-Dade County, said at a news conference. He added that 102 people have been counted, which he said is “very gratifying”.

Rescue authorities responded to the call in the early hours of Thursday morning and arrived in the beach town of Surfside to find that the 12-story Champlain Towers had collapsed in the northeastern part of the South.

Officials said rescuers pulled 35 occupants out of the building and two from the rubble. Ray Jadallah, head of operations at Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, said rescue teams had taken care of the inside of the building from under the debris around 6 p.m.

Jadallah said the efforts were slow and dangerous and said sonar, cameras and rescue dogs were being used to search for anyone trapped under the rubble.

“We received sounds. Not necessarily people talking, but sounds; it’s what gives people blows, ”Jadallah said in a news session. “If that weren’t enough, we wouldn’t hear a voice from the ball.”

Officials said it was too early to know what caused the tower to collapse in the early 1980s. Alfredo Ramirez, director of the Miami-Dade County police department, said his detectives, as well as state and federal authorities, will begin an investigation after the search and rescue operations are completed.

“I woke up to what looked like thunder,” resident Barry Cohen told the BBC. “It looked like a bomb had exploded: dirt and dust and smoke all over the place. The whole building was shaken with a huge explosion. “