Miami building collapse: Video shows ‘defeated’ Surfside responder as hurricane now threatens rescue effort
A video showing a “defeated” looking worker assisting in the search and rescue mission following the partial collapse of a residential building in Surfside, Florida, has gone viral, with many TikTok users sharing words of support and encouragement for the “exhausted” rescuer.
Posted on TikTok by a user with the handle “@pichichipixx”, the video shows a worker walking away from the rescue site at the partially-collapsed Champlain Towers South condominium.
“This guy finished a 12-hour shift looking for survivors in the rubble,” a text overlay reads. “He looks exhausted.”
Since being published on Wednesday, the video has been viewed more than 4.4 million times and received more than 700,000 likes.
Commenting on the video, one user said: “He looks tired as well as defeated”.
That isn't just exhaustion, it's heartbreak as well,” another person said.
“He looks extremely sad,” another added.
One user, with the handle Lauren Nicole, has claimed that the worker is her husband, writing in a comment: “That's my amazingly hardworking husband that we are missing so much! I'm so proud of him!”
"Tell him we are praying for everyone on scene and are so grateful to him," one person responded, with another writing: "He's a hero."
The video comes amid concerns that tropical-storm-turned-hurricane Elsa could threaten rescue efforts.
With Elsa strengthening into a hurricane, parts of the eastern Caribbean are on alert as it hits Barbados, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Experts have warned that the hurricane could hit Florida by next week, with parts of the southern Florida Peninsula at risk of facing heavy winds and rainfall as the storm makes land.
Search efforts could have to be put on pause if the hurricane does threaten the area, despite many people who lived in the building still being unaccounted for.
Officials have confirmed the deaths of at least 18 people in the building collapse.
However, a further 145 remain unaccounted for after the 13-story building collapsed in the middle of the night on 24 June.
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