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Reuters
Reuters
By Francisco Alvarado SURFSIDE, Fla. (Reuters) -Rescue workers scouring the debris of a collapsed condo building in a Miami suburb said they heard sounds in the rubble overnight, as officials on Friday raised the number of people unaccounted for to 159 and the confirmed death toll to four. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told reporters that three more bodies were pulled from the wreckage overnight. Another person was reported to have died on Thursday. The mayor also said the number of presumed missing had increased from the 99 reported missing on Thursday. “I’m praying for a miracle,” Ra…
The Miami Herald reported the following on Friday, June 25, 2021 via the Nordot news aggregation service:
Two faith-based groups of note were represented at the Surfside Community Center on 93rd Street and Collins Avenue
One, Israel-based Hatzalah (Hebrew.for “rescue” or “relief”), has been in operation in South Florida for 13 years and, according to Coordinator Andre Roitman, was among the first groups to be on the scene of the disaster site early Thursday. A bill signed into law June 14 by DeSantis authorized Hatzalah ambulances to use flashing lights and sirens when responding to disasters.
Roitman said about a dozen Hatzalah volunteers continue to circulate between the site and the center, bringing supplies like pallets of bottled water and prescriptions, which many survivors inside the building had left behind as they rushed to safety.
Another faith-based group was also present at the center Friday morning: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, better known as the Mormon Church. Eight young men on mission in South Florida congregated outside the reunification center around 8:45 a.m. Two of them, identifying themselves as Elder Tarter, 19, and Elder Merrill, 21, said providing comfort to victims and their families was part of their calling.
“We’re here to try to take some of that pain away,” Merrill said.
A steady flow of donations is pouring into the Shul of Bal Harbour, where a group of around 20 volunteers unloaded crates of food, blankets, and more to be distributed to community members displaced by the condo collapse.
Isack Merenfeld, a member of Skylake Synagogue, an Orthodox shul in North Miami Beach, said he quickly rented a U-Haul after he got a call from his rabbi, and brought his two sons along to help unload the donations. Skylake served as a drop-off point for anyone who wanted to donate.
With the Sabbath approaching on Friday night, the observant Jewish community has collected separate boxes of challah, wine, and other necessities for the weekly ritual day of rest.
Every food and drink item transported in his rented truck was kosher, Merenfeld said. Other trucks were also headed for the Surfside Community Center now being used as a family reunification center.
Among nonfood items were air mattresses, pillows, clothing, and electronics like phone chargers.
Asked whether community members like him plan to invite displaced Jewish neighbors to their for Shabbat tomorrow night, Merenfeld said, “Obviously that will happen. Without question.”