A section of a partially collapsed building is seen early Thursday, June 24, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami, Fla. A partial building collapse in Miami caused a massive response early Thursday from Miami Dade Fire Rescue, according to a tweet from the department's account. Miami Dade Fire Rescue is conducting search and rescue. Authorities had no word yet on casualties, or details of how many people lived in the building. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
SURFSIDE, Fla. — Emergency personnel and first responders have began search and rescue operations after a 13-story condo collapse Thursday in Florida.
Utah Task Force 1 Division Chief Bryan Case says the first few hours are going to be critical for both the victims and the first responders.
“In the early phases, there is a high probability of survivability for those people that may be in that building,” he told Utah’s Morning News on KSL NewsRadio. “But it’s going to take a lot of work.”
He said first responders will have to remove debris and delayer some of the layers that have collapsed before the victims can be rescued.
Case expects rescue efforts in the condo collapse to go on for the next week.
“I would expect it to go on for probably a week that is survivability,” he said. “The probability of survival goes down over the coming days. We are going to hear a lot of news come out of this about more people based on different factors.”
Hear the conversation on Utah’s Morning News below.