Nicolas Fernandez was also waiting for news about close family friends who lived in the collapsed section of the building.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince it happened, I\u2019ve been calling them nonstop, just trying to ring their cellphones as much as we can to help the rescue to see if they can hear the cellphones,” Fernandez said.<\/p>\n
Authorities described a desperate\u00a0scene with rescuers trying to save a child trapped in a garage and discovered\u00a0by a rescue dog, the Miami Herald reported. Frank Rollason, director of Miami-Dade Emergency Management, told the newspaper rescuers\u00a0saved a mother and her child, but the mother\u2019s leg had to be amputated.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2021\/06\/24\/USAT\/f515806f-c5fb-464e-bc57-000b98e3d598-USP_News__Miami_Condo_Collapse_1.jpg?width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp\")
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The American Red Cross set up a reunification site for family and friends near the site of the partial building collapse of a 12-story condominium early Thursday, June 24, 2021 in Surfside, Fla. (Photo: Romina Ruiz-Goiriena, Romina Ruiz-Goiriena-USA TODAY)<\/span><\/p>\n Witnesses described\u00a0alarms blaring\u00a0and\u00a0survivors screaming and\u00a0running from the building. Survivors recounted\u00a0hearing signs of the collapse and attempting to escape the building early Thursday morning.<\/p>\n Surfside is a few miles north of Miami Beach.\u00a0<\/p>\n One survivor, former Surfside Vice Mayor\u00a0Barry Cohen, 63, said he and his wife were sleeping when he heard what he thought was a crack of lightning. When the couple opened their door, the found\u00a0\u201ca pile of rubble and dust and smoke billowing around.\u201d<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2021\/06\/24\/USAT\/1b480da7-387f-4b0d-8f92-187c1a904086-AP_Building_Collapse_Miami.jpg?width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp\")
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