Miami woke up this Thursday with the brutal image of a building of 12 plants collapsed “like a pancake” and the frenzied and massive rescue operation that was launched.
At noon, they were already 99 the disappeared and one death had been confirmed, that of a corpse that had been rescued early in the morning.
In addition, ten people were treated on the spot, two were transported to hospitals and 35 rescued by the balconies of the building, according to different official sources.
The collapse of the Champlain Towers, a condominium of plants and more than 130 apartments facing the sea, took place around two in the tomorrow, local time.
The director of the police of Miami-Dade, Fr eddy Ramirez, was in charge of confirming the balance of 99 missing persons .
Among missing persons, at less 18 were of nationalities of Latin America, according to the count of the reports of several consulates in Miami made by the AFP agency.
The Foreign Ministry of Paraguay confirmed in its account of Twitter that there were six disappeared from that country after the collapse.
Among the disappeared are Sophia López Moreira, sister of the first lady of Paraguay, her husband Luis Pettengill, and their three minor children, in addition to Another Paraguayan woman, Lady L. Villalba, informed the Foreign Ministry of that country.
“Our consul and his team are in full tour of the Miami hospitals (…) the President of the Republic is in permanent contact with us, is concerned. Nothing more and nothing less than his sister-in-law, his brother-in-law and his nephews, “said Paraguayan Foreign Minister Euclides Acevedo to a radio station in Asunción.
Foreign Ministry monitors collapsed building in Miami, USA: So far, 6 Paraguayans have disappeared, which would be: Luis Pettengill, Sophia López Moreira, Lady L. Villalba, and three minors.
– Ministry of Foreign Affairs (@mreparaguay) June 24, 2021
The Argentine Foreign Minister, Felipe Solá, spoke of around a dozen citizens of his country who disappeared in a landslide for which he said he was “shocked”.
Miami local media and the Argentine newspaper La Nación also cite among the disappeared the plastic surgeon of 45 years Andrés Galfrascoli, her husband Fabían Núñez (55) and their 6-year-old daughter.
Also, according to AFP, there are three Uruguayans missing.
In addition, Brian Fincheltub, director of Consular Affairs of Venezuela designated by Juan Guaidó said on Twitter that there are four Venezuelans who were in the building and are missing.
The local authorities in Miami did not report the identity of the people whose whereabouts are unknown.
A huge operation of rescue teams was put in place march in the Surfside area, north of Miami Beach, to locate survivors among the ruins.
Until noon on Thursday the authorities still did not offer explanations as to the causes of the collapse of the building, which was inaugurated in 1981.
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