Families pray for a miracle
The anxious wait for word of nearly 160 people unaccounted for after an oceanfront condominium building collapsed near Miami, killing at least four, is taking a toll on relatives who can do little but hope their loved ones will somehow be found alive in an increasingly dire hunt for survivors.
The Australian Jewish community is sending prayers for the safe recovery of two Australians missing after the collapse, which has so far officially claimed four lives.
The family of Tzvi and Itty Ainsworth have taken to social media to asking for the community’s ‘‘urgent prayers’’ for the couple, who split their time between Australia and Surfside, Miami.
Family friend Joseph Waks, another Australian, who has been living in Surfside for 121⁄2 years, said hope was fading that the Ainsworths, who were renting an apartment on the 11th floor, would be found alive.
Hopes rest on how quickly crews can complete their grim yet delicate task in Surfside, just a few kilometres north of Miami’s
South Beach.
‘‘Any time that we hear a sound, we concentrate in that area,’’ Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah said. ‘‘It could be just steel twisting, it could be debris raining down, but not specifically sounds of tapping or sounds of a human voice.’’
Officials have said they still don’t know exactly how many residents or visitors were in the building when it fell, but they are trying to locate 159 people who are considered unaccounted for.