Author note: this article was published on June 24th, one day after the building collapsed. The final number of people who were killed, injured, or affected by the collapse may therefore be revised from the figures noted in this article. 

A twelve-floor residential building in Miami, Florida has partially collapsed, killing at least one person and injuring ten others. Images circulated by national and international press show piles of rubble and debris at the foot of the back end of the apartment building, which collapsed at approximately 02:00 ET. Miami-Dade County Fire Department says that 55 units in the northeast sector of the building collapsed, with 35 survivors rescued thus far. The cause of the collapse is unknown.

More than 80 rescue units are aiding a search and rescue effort at the scene, situated at 8777 Collins Avenue, a few miles north of Miami Beach. During a news conference after the incident, Surfside mayor Charles Burkett confirmed one person had died, but that the death toll was expected to rise due to the large number of people estimated to be inside the building. “This is a horrific catastrophe,” Burkett said. “In the United States, buildings just don’t fall down.”

“There’s no reason for this building to go down like that, unless someone literally pulls out the supports from underneath, or they get washed out, or there’s a sinkhole or something like that, because it just went down,” the mayor added.

The 12-story building, completed in 1981, was undergoing roof work over the past 30 days, but it remains unclear if this was linked to the collapse. The building was also in the process of its 40-year recertification, a requirement for any building in Miami-Dade to be recertified by an engineer or architect to ensure its structural and electrical safety following its 40th anniversary. A relative of one of the tower’s occupants told the Miami Herald that the building suffered from chronic leaking.

Local media is beginning to report the accounts of those who witnessed the collapse. The Miami Herald spoke to one local resident who heard a large explosion that felt like an earthquake, while others felt the building shake prior to its collapse. One witness told CBS Miami that the building “collapsed like a pancake.”

Meanwhile, the CEO of the Florida chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors called the collapse an “oddity of biblical proportions” and that it would likely take multiple years to conclusively establish the cause. Once investigators establish the structural condition of the surviving building, they will examine the rubble, architectural plans, engineering calculations, construction materials, and maintenance records in pursuit of answers.