Man Says Mom Heard 'Creaking Noises' Coming From Surfside Condo One Day Before It Collapsed
The son of a woman who lived in the 12-story condo building that collapsed in Florida on Thursday morning said she reported noises coming from the structure just one day before the tragedy.
Miami resident Pablo Rodriguez told CNN that his mother and grandmother have not been located following the partial collapse of Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside, Florida, at around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday. The two lived together in the upscale, 136-unit apartment complex, which contained condominiums priced from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, CNN reported.
Rodriguez told the outlet his mother called him one day before a wing of the building fell to tell him she heard noises loud enough to disturb her from her sleep.
"She just told me she had woken up around 3 [or] 4 in the morning and had heard like, some creaking noises," he told CNN. "They were loud enough to wake her."
Rodriguez said he didn't think much of the comment, and couldn't have foreseen what was to come.
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"It was like a comment that she made off-hand, like that's why she woke up and she wasn't able to go back to sleep afterwards," he told the outlet.
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He added: "Now, in hindsight, you always wonder."
Rodriguez told USA Today his mother and grandmother are 64 and 88, respectively.
On Friday morning, officials confirmed the death toll from the disaster had risen from one to four, and the number of people unaccounted for remains at 159.
RELATED: Miami Condo Collapse Death Toll at 4 as 159 Missing, While Study Claims Structure Sinking Since '90s
On Thursday, less than 24 hours after the collapse, a $5 million class-action lawsuit was filed against the building's condo association, alleging it failed to "secure and safeguard" its residents.
Authorities have not yet determined why the section of the building fell.
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Just hours after the incident, a boy was pulled from the debris of the building. The "very lucky" moment was captured on video.
A GoFundMe has been set up to provide relief for families of the victims and survivors.
On Friday, the White House announced that President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Florida, authorizing federal assistance for disaster relief following the Thursday tragedy.
