Announcer this is Nbc Nightly News with lester holt, reporting tonight from surfside, florida. Good evening we are witnessing a disaster of almost unprecedented scale here in surfside, florida, just north of miami beach, where a desperate Search And Rescue effort is under way to find those that may still be trapped more than a half day after part of a 12story Condo Building simply collapsed. It happened without warning in the middle of the night, practically unheard of kind of catastrophe in this country the destruction starkly visible from in the air, while in the Basement Parking garage, dramatic scenes of firefighters risking their own lives searching for possible victims even now, officials fear the rest of the building could come down anytime nearby, desperate families are gathering, waiting for word about loved ones, filled with anguish and heartbreak authorities confirmed one person has died. They say almost 100 people remain unaccounted for. Some may not be home, but they dont
Tonight 99 souls are listed as unaccounted for officially. Theres been one fatality. Crews have been on the scene for almost 24 hours now using extrication tools, their hands, search dogs, microphones. Earlier today a boy who was trapped in the debris was pulled out alive. For the very latest, were joined tonight by telephone by charles briquette, the mayor of surfside, florida. Joining us by telephone, because the weather has turned so suddenly severe, we cant get a tv signal out of there, which also means think of the underground rescue effort and how that will be slowed down and hampered by rainfall. Mr. Mayor, ive been watching you on television all day. I think were pretty close to the same age. When i woke up this morning, saw the pictures in your town, i thought of the Marine Barracks bombing. I thought of oklahoma city. And then ive seen your comment all day long. Buildings dont fall down like this in america. Obviously theres that investigation, but update us tonight on the se
Crews have been on the scene for almost 24 hours now using extra caution tools, their hands, search dogs, microphones. Earlier today, a boy who was trapped in the debris was pulled out alive. For the very latest we are joined tonight by telephone by Charles Berke yet, the mayor of surfside, florida. Hes joining us by telephone because the weather has turned so severe we can get a tv signal out of there. Which means, think of the underground rescue effort, it will be slow down and hampered by rainfall. Mister mayor, ive been watching you on television all day, i think we are pretty close to the same age. When i woke up this morning, saw the pictures in your town, i thought of the Marine Barracks bombing them. I thought of oklahoma city, and then i seen your comment all day long, buildings dont fall down like this in america. Obviously, there is that investigation. But update us tonight on the search for living souls. Youre right about the rain, its heartbreaking now that it is slowing u
In a phone call, President Biden told the israeli Prime Minister of his deep concerns over a planned assault on rafah in southern gaza. In the last hour, the white house has said that a meeting between the us and israel to discuss rafah will likely take place next week. But Benjamin Netyanyahu has just said theres no way to destroy hamas in rafah other than by a ground incursion. All this as talks continue in qatar in a bid to secure a ceasefire deal. Lets get this report from anna foster, injerusalem. At gazas southern tip, the aftermath of another israeli air strike. 1. 4 million displaced people are now sheltering in rafah, and israel has made it clear it wants to go further. A ground offensive, it says, would remove hamas from gaza entirely. But theres International Pressure to avoid even more deaths. The message from israels allies to its leaders is getting stronger. Our position is that hamas should not be allowed a Safe Haven In Rafah or anywhere else, but a major Ground Operati