SURFSIDE, Fla. – Firefighters battled smoke and time as the search continued for survivors after a 12-story beachfront condominium building collapsed just north of Miami early Thursday morning, killing at least four people and leaving 159 more unaccounted for.
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told USA TODAY the rescue efforts will continue “until we pull everybody we can out of that rubble.”
“We will not stop,” he said. “You can count on us to continue this search until we find every person who’s alive in that rubble.”
However, a fire burning beneath the rubble was hampering those efforts, officials said, as smoke spread laterally beneath the pile of debris.
“It’s a very deep fire, and it’s extremely difficult