Fifty-one people unaccounted for in Florida building collapse -officials

SURFSIDE, Fla - Hundreds of fire and rescue workers scoured through tons of rubble on Thursday after a 12-story oceanfront residential building partially collapsed close to Miami, with at least one person dead and 51 still unaccounted for, officials said.

Sally Heyman, a Miami-Dade County Commissioner, said officials have been unable to make contact with 51 people who "supposedly" live in the building, home to a mix of people including families and part-time "snow birds" who spend the winter months in the state of Florida. Officials said the building, built in 1981, was going through a recertification process requiring repairs and that another building was being newly constructed next door, although the cause of the collapse remained unclear.