President Biden Declares State of Emergency in Florida Following 12-Story Apartment Collapse

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] U.S. President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in Florida on the 25th (local time) following the apartment collapse accident.

The White House announced in a statement that "President Biden has ordered federal support for local and state efforts to respond to the emergency, including rescue operations," announcing the declaration of the state of emergency.

Earlier, at around 1:30 a.m. on the 24th, a tragedy occurred in Surfside, Miami-Dade County, Florida, where part of the 12-story Champlain Towers South apartment collapsed. At least one person died, 10 were injured, and 99 are missing due to this accident.

President Biden instructed the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to devote all efforts to managing the situation and urged them to provide all possible support to help overcome the disaster. FEMA is in charge of coordinating support, including organizing rescue operations to minimize damage caused by this collapse.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also declared a state of emergency in Miami-Dade County and called for federal government support.

The cause of the collapse has not yet been determined, but CNN reported that the apartment recently underwent maintenance inspections such as roof repairs.

The collapsed apartment was built in 1981 as a condominium-style building on the beach and is reported by local media to be a luxury apartment.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.