Florida Condo Collapse Witnesses Describe Hearing ‘Loud Explosion’

SURFSIDE, FL. (THECOUNT) — Several witnesses to the horror Surfside, Florida condo building collapse Thursday, described hearing a loud explosion. The cause of the collapse has not yet been determined.

Santo Mejil, 50, told the Miami Herald that his wife called him from the Champlain Towers South, where she was working as an aide for an elderly woman.

“She said she heard a big explosion. It felt like an earthquake,” Mejil told the newspaper. He said she later called him and said rescuers were bringing her down.

Silvana Juárez, 49, of Argentina, lives near the condo building and said her good friends are missing.

“I have three friends and their little girl that are missing,” Juárez told USA TODAY. “My daughter lives in the building next door and my daughter heard a loud explosion.”

The city of Surfside has long been an enclave of the Argentine-American community after the economic collapse of the 1990s in the South American country.

The area also has a large Jewish population.

About 20 Jewish people were also among the unaccounted for, including some with Israeli citizenship, Maor Elbaz-Starinsky, Consul General of Israel in Miami, according to USA TODAY.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said the incident happened around 1:30 a.m. at the Champlain Towers South condominium building, located at 8777 Collins Avenue in Surfside.

Ilan Naibryf, 21, and his girlfriend, Deborah Berezdivin, have been identified as two of nearly 100 people reported missing or unaccounted following a condo building collapse early Thursday morning near Miami Beach.

Dozens were rescued from the rubble at the Surfside, Florida condo. At least ten people were injured and several were transported to area hospitals.

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