Building collapses in Miami: The plight of missing residents and families

Families of residents of a collapsed apartment building near Miami are anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones on Thursday, with at least one dead and 99 missing as residents search for a resettlement solution after the disaster.

Also read: Dramatic building collapses in Florida: One dead, nearly a hundred missing

In front of the community center in Surfside, a small community in Miami-Dade County, 40-year-old Eric de Maura said:

The Brazilian champlain lived for three years on the 10th floor of the Towers Complex, part of which collapsed at midnight due to undecided.

He considers himself a “miracle worker” because he decided to sleep with his girlfriend instead of going home last night.

“I was homeless, I lost my papers, my clothes, my green card, my money,” he explained, torn between sadness and the joy of being alive: “I came back to see the building, it was a shock. I was very sad but I was happy to be alive.” ”.

Eric de Maura, on the other hand, is concerned about the fate of his neighbors.

“It simply came to our notice then. I think those on my floor are dead, ”he said vaguely.

These residents have the best view, which looks directly towards the beach and the sea. This part collapsed like a house of cards at night.

Search teams – firefighters, police, dog units – spent the day surviving in the wreckage as a crane cleared the wreckage and a helicopter patrolled the skies.

The remaining 12-story building was not touched, some iron balconies were removed, but all residents were evacuated as a security measure and neighbors were surrounded on several streets.

Residents at the community center found themselves a few blocks away, converted into a relief and dormitory room.

That’s where they wait for rehab, with family, with relatives or in hotels that offer rooms. Others are waiting to find out what happened to their relatives who lived in the building.

Volunteers brought water, coffee, packed lunch, clothes and blankets and the American Red Cross and emergency services teams were there to comfort them. People come and go, some sitting and motionless, looking into space, while others suppress grief.

More than 1,000 people traveled through the center, assured 22-year-old volunteer Ron Ben Hyan. This North Miami resident has returned to his childhood neighborhood for help.

In this city of large Jewish communities, he said, “We help everyone, we are no exception.”

The young man who returned from Israel did his military service saying “this is a huge shock” to the community and the city.

Earlier, Israeli Foreign Minister Ayr Lapid spoke with the head of the Jewish community in Miami, saying the Jewish state was “doing everything possible to help the forces on earth, the wounded and the families.”