Death toll in Miami collapse holds steady at nine

Two days after the collapse of a seaside Florida building, authorities said they would help residents of a similar tower nearby evacuate as they examine it for structural flaws that might indicate a similar risk.

Jayson Albano reports.

Search-and-rescue crews continued a hunt for survivors on Sunday, in the aftermath of a building collapse in a town near Miami, Florida.

The official death toll has risen to nine with more than 150 people still unaccounted for after Thursday's collapse in Surfside.

House Rep Debbie Wasserman Schultz represents the district where a part of the Champlain Towers South condo fell.

"One of the things, one of the things I think it's important to stress, we are used to dealing with natural disasters, and the aftermath of natural disasters here in South Florida, obviously we live in hurricane alley.

And so, you know, FEMA in our midst is a common occurrence." On Friday the White House said it authorised the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts.

But rescue teams picking through the rubble for a fourth day have detected no further signs of life.

Officials in Surfside however remained hopeful more survivors would be found in air pockets that may have formed in the debris.

"What we're talking about here, as I've said before is an unprecedented tragedy and unprecedented crisis, and one that is incomparable really anywhere in the US before now.

"We obviously have some realism that we're dealing with, but I keep telling them as long as the experts that we trust are telling you they have hoped to find people who might have been able to survive, but we have to make sure that we hold on to that hope." What caused nearly half of the twelve-story building to cave has yet to be determined.

But a 2018 engineer's inspection report found major structural deterioration in the parking garage beneath the 40-year-old tower.