Florida Building Collapse: Indian American Family of 3 Missing

Vishal Patel, his wife Bhavna Patel, and their one-year-old daughter Aishani Patel among the 156 missing victims.

Florida building collapse leaves five dead, 159 missing. Indian family of three among the missing.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@GovRonDeSantis)

An Indian-American family of three is missing among the 156 unaccounted persons in the building collapse in Florida's Miami on Thursday, 24 June. Surfside's Vishal Patel, his wife Bhavna Patel and their one-year-old daughter Aishani Patel are still missing as the search for the unaccounted victims of this deadly building collapse continues.

Bhavna Patel was four months pregnant, said her niece Sarina to CNN. She was supposed to meet the family this summer.

The family was at home at the time of the collapse, Sarina had indicated.

Since Bhavna Patel has both a UK and US citizenship, the Foreign Commonwealth and development Office is involved in the efforts with local authorities to find the family.

On Thursday, 24 June, a building at the Champlain Towers South Condo housing complex located near the Miami beach reportedly collapsed.

As many as 156 people have been reported missing and 11 persons have been confirmed dead so far due to the accident, as per a BBC report.

Emergency officials are asking people to contact them if they have relatives unaccounted for. A state of emergency has been declared by Florida Gov Ron DeSantis.

The cause of the collapse is still unknown, although investigations are on. Simon Wdowinski, a professor at the Florida International University, claimed that the building which was constructed on reclaimed wetlands was determined unstable a year ago, The American Kahani reported.

Surfside mayor Charles Burkett told USA Today that rescue efforts "will continue until we pull everyone out of the rubble." A fire rescue assistant chief Jadallah, has confirmed that sounds have been heard from under the rubble. He told the CNN, "All operations are occurring underneath the rubble. They are occurring underneath the parking garage where we have teams of firefighters constantly as they continue making cuts, breaches and placing sonar devices, search cams to locate victims.

President Biden has said that federal resources are "ready to go" to help respond to the collapse, CNN reported. A helpline has been set up by Emergency officials and a family reunification centre set up at the 9301 Collins Ave.

(With inputs from CNN, USA Today, BBC and American Kahani)