Family of Paraguay's first lady among missing after high-rise collapse near Miami Beach

Updated

Relatives of the first lady of Paraguay were among the nearly 100 people unaccounted for Thursday after a high-rise condominium building partially collapsed near Miami Beach, according to South American officials.

Euclides Acevedo, Paraguay’s foreign minister, said in interviews Thursday that members of President Mario Abdo Benítez’s family were among those missing.

Paraguay’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on its website that it was monitoring the situation and six Paraguayans were among those missing.

They were identified as Sophia López Moreira, the sister of first lady Silvana López Moreira, and her husband Luis Pettengill. Their three children and Lady Luna Villalba, a worker accompanying the family, were also missing, Acevedo said.

Silvana Lopez Moreira,Mario Abdo Benitez (Jorge Saenz / AP file)
Silvana Lopez Moreira,Mario Abdo Benitez (Jorge Saenz / AP file)

There were 99 people unaccounted for Thursday afternoon after the building collapsed, leaving at least one person dead and 10 others injured, officials said.

The minister said the consul was “frantically” trying to make contact and authorities were “going through all of Miami’s hospitals.”

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