99 Unaccounted For After Florida Building Collapse: Police

SURFSIDE, United States, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Jun, 2021 ) :Police said Thursday they are without news of 99 people who may have been inside a beachfront apartment block that collapsed early Thursday near Miami Beach.

"Fifty-three people accounted for, as of right now, 99 unaccounted for," Freddy Ramirez, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, told a news conference.

"That could be for different reasons, we're still in the early stages," he added.

An unknown number of residents are feared to have been asleep in the building, in the town of Surfside, when the overnight collapse reduced a large portion of it to rubble, exposing the interiors of gutted apartments.

At least one person has been confirmed dead, but there were fears of a much heavier toll as rescuers combed through the rubble for victims among the dozens of people still missing.