scorecard
  1. Home
  2. international
  3. news
  4. Video shows distraught mother of woman missing in Florida condo collapse pleading with Gov. Ron DeSantis to speed up the search and rescue efforts

Video shows distraught mother of woman missing in Florida condo collapse pleading with Gov. Ron DeSantis to speed up the search and rescue efforts

Joshua Zitser   

Video shows distraught mother of woman missing in Florida condo collapse pleading with Gov. Ron DeSantis to speed up the search and rescue efforts
  • Days after the Miami condo collapse, more than 150 people are still missing. Five are confirmed dead.
  • An emotional video shows a distraught mother pleading with Gov. Ron DeSantis to speed up the rescue efforts.
  • In the clip, the woman accuses DeSantis of breaking his promises and begs him to work harder to find the missing people.

The distressed mother of a 26-year-old woman who is missing after the collapse of a Miami condo complex has begged Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and fire department officials to speed up the rescue efforts, a video shows.

The emotional video, which was initially shared on Instagram and reported by the New York Post, features the woman pleading with DeSantis and Miami-Dade assistant fire chief Raide Jadallah to help find her daughter.

A post shared by Abigail Pereira (@abigailpereiraok)

Around three minutes into the 30-minute clip, which was filmed on Saturday, the woman accuses DeSantis and the assistant fire chief of breaking promises to let Israeli rescue crews help in the search for victims at Champlain Towers South.

"You promised us and they are not here," she says. "I want an answer. Not a band-aid. Not a Tylenol. Not someone to assuage my pain."

Read more: Exclusive: Miami's mayor expects planning documents for a tunnel with Elon Musk's Boring Company to be ready in about 3 months

The woman went on to complain about the slow pace of the rescue efforts. "I'm a mother, I don't know the best way to go about this but it's impossible that in four days, nobody has emerged dead or alive," she can be heard saying.

The death toll rose from four to five on Sunday morning, Insider reported. But more than 150 people are still missing.

"My daughter is 26 years old, in perfect health. She could make it out of there," the woman says, clearly distraught.

The mother's emotional plea appears to have resonated with others there; crying can be heard at various points.

"Imagine if your children were in there," the woman pleads at one point, her voice breaking.

"Red tape is not important when my daughter is dying," she adds later.

In the video, Jadallah responds to the comments by saying that American crews are just as "qualified" as the Israeli team to help get individuals out of the debris.

DeSantis adds that he is supportive of the Israeli team helping out with the rescue efforts. "The state is not preventing that at all. They're welcome to come. It's an operational decision," he replies.

Search-and-rescue teams are working round the clock to search through the rubble of the partially collapsed Florida condo building, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava of Miami-Dade County said during a press conference.

The way the building collapsed has made it difficult for rescue teams to locate survivors, Mayor Charles Burkett of Surfside said at another press conference.

To further complicate rescue matters, Insider reported, a fire spread around the site of the collapse on Saturday, according to Cava.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said that more than 80 rescue units were helping at the scene of the collapse.

READ MORE ARTICLES ON



Popular Right Now



Advertisement