By Jason Hanna, Leyla Santiago and Amanda Watts, CNN|
Surfside, Florida (CNN)A massive search and rescue effort is underway after part of a 12-story residential building collapsed early Thursday in the South Florida town of Surfside, leaving dozens unaccounted for.
One person is dead, Surfside Mayor Charles W. Burkett said. Two people have been pulled from the rubble at Champlain Towers South since the collapse happened around 1:30 a.m., Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Ray Jadallah said, without addressing their conditions.
About 55 of the building’s 136 units collapsed, Jadallah said, leaving huge piles of rubble below and materials dangling from the structure that remained in the beachfront community a few miles north of Miami Beach.
At least 51 people were unaccounted for as of around 10 a.m., having been reported missing to the county’s emergency reunification hotline, Miami Dade County Commissioner Sally Heyman told CNN.
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