At least 11 dead after partial building collapse near Miami

By Maureen Chowdhury, Melissa Macaya, Melissa Mahtani and Veronica Rocha, CNN

Updated 0356 GMT (1156 HKT) June 29, 2021

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8:19 a.m. ET, June 28, 2021

Missing woman told husband on phone call she saw area around pool cave in, multiple outlets report

From CNN’s Joe Sutton

Cassondra Stratton was in her unit at Champlain Towers South when she called her husband Michael Stratton early Thursday morning, he told the Miami Herald.

She was “speaking frantically about their condo building shaking,” according to the Herald, which spoke to Michael Stratton.

According to the Herald, “She told him she saw a sinkhole, where the pool out her window used to be. Then the line went dead.”

The Washington Post reported that Stratton was in her fourth-floor balcony, she felt a tremor and saw the deck of the swimming pool cave in.

Cassondra Stratton is the wife of Michael Stratton, senior policy adviser with the law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.

She is among the people still believed to be among the missing after part of a 12-story residential building in Surfside, Florida, collapsed early Thursday, his law firm’s spokesperson Lara Day told CNN.

7:17 a.m. ET, June 28, 2021

Officials begin inspections of nearby buildings after Florida condo collapse leaves at least 9 dead

From CNN's Hollie Silverman

Rescue crews have descended upon the coastal town of Surfside, Florida, as families wait for any news — good or bad — about their loved ones following the collapse of a condo building Thursday.

At least nine people are dead, 152 are unaccounted for and 134 are accounted for in the collapse of Champlain Towers South as of Sunday night, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said during a news conference.

The missing are from at least nine countries, including six Latin American countries, and multiple faith communities.

Rescuers from Israel have come to the waterfront town to help local, state and federal agencies in their search efforts. Rescuers from Mexico are expected to arrive today.

Over the weekend, crews were able to carve out trenches, contain a deep rooted fire, and burrow into the collapse site to pull victims out as crews above ground used K9s, sonar and heavy equipment to locate the missing.

On Sunday, some family members were bussed from the reunification center to the site of the collapse to pay their respects and witness the efforts rescuers are making to bring their family home.

Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Newsroom Sunday that he will continue to support search and rescue operations until everyone is pulled out of the rubble. "I expect miracles. I'm expecting many miracles," he said.

Miami-Dade mayor says fire that hampered search efforts is now "under control"

Crews work in the rubble at the Champlain Towers South Condo, Sunday, June 27, in Surfside, Florida. Wilfredo Lee/AP

The fire that was hampering search efforts at the Surfside, Florida, building collapse site is now "under control" said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Sunday.

"Our teams have done an amazing job and yesterday we suppressed the fire that had been going out of control and the smoke that was inhibiting activities in certain parts of the pile, so around noon yesterday that was brought under control, making it possible for the search to continue in those areas as well," she said.

8:19 a.m. ET, June 28, 2021

Surfside mayor promises endless commitment until everybody is found in the rubble

From CNN’s Amanda Watts

Surfside, Florida, Mayor Charles Burkett promised enduring commitment to the families of those who have loved ones still in the building collapse rubble.

“We are working 24-hours a day non-stop, nothing else on our mind, with the only objective of pulling their family members out of that rubble safely. That's what we're doing and we’re not going to stop doing that, not today, not tomorrow, not the next day. We’re going to keep going until everybody is out,” Burkett said Sunday.

“There was something obviously very, very wrong at this building and we need to get to the bottom of it,” he said. “But like I said, that’s not today, not tomorrow and not for a long time because our first priority and only priority is to pull our residents out of the rubble and reunite them with their family, who understandably are out of their minds with emotion, sadness, anger, and just confused and want to know what is happening.”

6:14 a.m. ET, June 28, 2021

Some families frustrated by pace of search and rescue efforts

From CNN's Aya Elamroussi and Ray Sanchez

A woman prays in front of photos at the makeshift memorial for the victims of the building collapse, near the site of the accident in Surfside, Florida, north of Miami Beach on June 27. Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images

Some family members of the people who remain unaccounted for following a residential building collapse in South Florida have grown impatient during the slow, painstaking rescue efforts that are likely to continue for days.

A mother who said she is worried about her 26-year-old daughter who is missing after the partial building collapse in Surfside, Florida, desperately urged officials on Saturday to do more.

"I'm a mother. I don't know the best way to go about this. ... Imagine if your children were in there," the mother told state and local officials as they met with the families of those missing following the collapse.
"I know you're doing everything you can, but it's not enough," she said in an emotional video posted to Instagram Saturday.

The families of the dozens still unaccounted for following Thursday's partial collapse of a condo building a few miles north of Miami Beach are growing impatient, desperate for faster results from the search and rescue crews who have been digging through the rubble around the clock.

Read more here.