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Pictured: Australian couple who were in Miami apartment building when it collapsed without warning - as desperate family fear time is running out

The family of two Australians are praying for a 'miracle' for survivors after the Florida apartment building they were living in collapsed 48 hours ago, officially claiming four lives and with 159 people still missing. 

Tzvi and Itty Ainsworth, members of the Jewish community from Melbourne, were understood to be in the 12-storey building in the Miami community of Surfside which gave way while residents were asleep - with the rubble currently being combed by rescuers. 

'The building they were living in collapsed last night. They have not been retrieved from the rubble. Please pray. We are believers, the sons of believers. We need a miracle,' niece Dina Feiglin White, also from Melbourne wrote on Facebook on Friday morning. 

Firefighters spayed the rubble of the Champlain Towers South Condo (pictured) on Friday where small fires and smoldering rubble still could be seen

Firefighters spayed the rubble of the Champlain Towers South Condo on Friday where small fires and smoldering rubble still could be seen

Tzvi (pictured far left) and Itty (pictured far right) Ainsworth, members of the Jewish community from Melbourne, lived in an apartment on the 11th floor of the building

Tzvi (pictured far left) and Itty (pictured far right) Ainsworth, members of the Jewish community from Melbourne, lived in an apartment on the 11th floor of the building 

Israel based musician Chanale Fellig-Harrel, another niece, said on Instagram on Friday night they still had not heard any news about the couple. 

'It's a very difficult time for the Ainsworths and the Felligs and my parents and my aunts and uncles, all of us ... all of our hearts are bleeding,' she said.

Family friend Joseph Waks, another Australian who has lived in Surfside for more than a decade, said the family was still holding out hope the Ainsworth, who had an apartment on the 11th floor, would be found alive. 

'We're just short of 48 hours, so time's running against us,' he told The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday morning AEST. 

He explained a reunification centre had been established in a nearby hotel building where rescue crews can recuperate and families can wait. 

'I've never seen anything like this before I was standing there yesterday, people were literally coming out with pots and pans and things that they were making to bring to the rescue workers,' he said. 

Members of the South Florida Urban Search and Rescue team look for possible survivors in the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building

Members of the South Florida Urban Search and Rescue team look for possible survivors in the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building

Rescue crew respond at the site after a partial building collapse in Surfside near Miami Beach, Florida

Rescue crew respond at the site after a partial building collapse in Surfside near Miami Beach, Florida

'We're hoping for the best, we're hoping there'll be a miracle,' he told the ABC.

He said the couple was originally from Sydney but later moved to Melbourne and divided their time between Australia and Miami, where they have family.

'They have been in and out of this community for many, many years,' he said.

'It's devastating. They both became grandparents yet again a few hours before the tragedy. We still cannot believe it.'

Danny Rivero, a reporter from National Public Radio in South Florida, tweeted on Friday: 'We've been told many Argentinians and Australians were in the building as well, and that all are unaccounted for. This is an international disaster.'

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The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was aware of reports Australians may have been caught up in the disaster at the Champlain Tower South Condominium.

'The Australian embassy in Washington is closely monitoring developments and making urgent enquiries to determine if any Australians were affected,' it said.

Surfside is a community of 5700 residents with a large Jewish presence.

The Australian Jewish Association has been in contact with a committee member who is in Miami, staying near the collapsed building.

There are no confirmed reports yet of any Australian Jews being caught up in the disaster, a spokesman for the association told AAP. 

Police officers stand guard surrounded by smoke from a partially collapsed building in Surfside, north of Miami Beach

Police officers stand guard surrounded by smoke from a partially collapsed building in Surfside, north of Miami Beach

A man hangs a photo on a fence of someone missing near the site of an oceanfront condo building that partially collapsed in Surfside

A man hangs a photo on a fence of someone missing near the site of an oceanfront condo building that partially collapsed in Surfside

Miami-Dade Police Officer Barbara Jenkins, right, comforts a woman who is trying to get closer to the site of the Champlain Towers South Condo after the building collapsed

Miami-Dade Police Officer Barbara Jenkins, right, comforts a woman who is trying to get closer to the site of the Champlain Towers South Condo after the building collapsed

One story of hope has emerged from the tragedy with a young boy found alive in the wreckage.

Nicholas Balboa was walking his dog on the beach when he heard the rumbling he thought was thunder, he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Friday. Sensing something was wrong, he dropped off his dog and hurried back outside.

Residents were flooding the streets and pointing at a gaping hole and dust cloud where a seaside condominium tower had collapsed. Fire and rescue crews had not yet arrived, and it was eerily quiet on the back side of the building. As he began to take photos of the wreckage, he heard what sounded like a child's voice.

Balboa, 31, climbed through a pile of glass and rebar in his flip-flops, desperate to get closer.

'Keep yelling so I can follow your voice,' Balboa said. He soon saw a hand waving from the rubble.

The boy, Jonah Handler, said he and his mother, Stacie Fang, were the only ones in the condo that had imploded when part of the building went down. He kept asking about his mom. Balboa and a stranger tried desperately to clear away the rubble surrounding Jonah but it was too heavy. It looked like a wall or support beam, Balboa said.

'I'll be right back. I'm going to get help,' Balboa said, trying to comfort the boy.

'Please don't leave me, please don't leave me,' the boy cried.

'He was absolutely terrified. The sheer terror in his voice, that fact that his mother, that he can´t find her,' said Balboa, who was in town from Arizona visiting his father.

A dog of the search and rescue personnel search for survivors through the rubble at the Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside

A dog of the search and rescue personnel search for survivors through the rubble at the Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside

Ms Fang's family released a statement paying tribute to her on Friday afternoon saying: 'There are no words to describe the tragic loss of our beloved Stacie'

Ms Fang's family released a statement paying tribute to her on Friday afternoon saying: 'There are no words to describe the tragic loss of our beloved Stacie'

Asked about his condition, Lisa Mozloom, a friend of the family told the AP, 'He will be fine. He´s a miracle.' Mozloom said Jonah had been taken to the hospital at one point but said he was 'stable.'

Authorities have said at least four people died in the building collapse, and with 159 still unaccounted for they fear the death toll will rise sharply. They have not publicly released the identities of the deceased, but Mozloom confirmed Fang's death.

'There are no words to describe the tragic loss of our beloved Stacie,' members of her family said in a statement that Mozloom released on their behalf.

Aided by dogs, cameras, sonar and heavy equipment, rescuers are searching for any spaces that may have formed in the debris, leaving any possible survivors air to breathe.

'We have hope because that's what our search-and-rescue team tells us, that they have hope,' Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told a news conference on Friday.

Rescue workers look for possible survivors among the debris of a partially collapsed building in Surfside

Rescue workers look for possible survivors among the debris of a partially collapsed building in Surfside

 

A couple embraces as they look at the debris of a partially collapsed building in Surfside while 159 people remain unaccounted for on Friday

A couple embraces as they look at the debris of a partially collapsed building in Surfside while 159 people remain unaccounted for on Friday

Miami-Dade Fire Chief Alan Cominsky told reporters that rescue operations would continue throughout the night.

While local officials provided aid and comfort to the families, such as hotel rooms and food, search-and-rescue specialists worked the disaster site on a rotation, with a limited number allowed at any one time to prevent further collapse, Levine Cava said.

Teams from Mexico and Israel arrived to help relieve the locally based crews, many of whom have also traveled to disaster sites around the world.

Atop the pile, some wielded hammers and picks looking for signs of life. Heavy equipment scraped away the top layer.

Below ground, rescuers who entered through the parking garage risked their own lives searching for survivors, occasionally being hit by falling debris, officials said.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue chief Andy Alvarez recalled that his team once pulled a girl out of earthquake debris in Haiti eight days into the rescue effort.

'You gotta have hope. We're doing everything we can to bring your family member out alive,' Alvarez told the loved ones of the missing on CNN, pausing as he was overcome with emotion.

People hang up more signs of missing residents and light candles from the partial collapse in Surfside where the rescue personnel continue their search for victims nearly 48 hours after the collapse

People hang up more signs of missing residents and light candles from the partial collapse in Surfside where the rescue personnel continue their search for victims nearly 48 hours after the collapse

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