A young boy who was rescued from the rubble of the 12-story Miami beach apartment building that collapsed on Wednesday night has been named as 15-year-old Jonah Handler.
Jonah, 15, was pulled from the wreckage by first responders along with the help of man who was walking his dog just as the building came down, Nicholas Balboa.
The boy's mother is among the nearly 160 people who remained unaccounted for after the collapse as of Friday morning.
Describing the moment he spotted Jonah, Balboa said it appeared the boy was sleeping when the building came down.
'There was a bed frame and a mattress that were laying above him, so I could only assume that that was his bed, judging by the size of the mattress,' Balboa told Local10.
'You know, so he was probably just sleeping and then all of a sudden the building gave way.'
The young boy who was been pulled alive from the rubble of the 12-story Miami beach apartment building that collapsed on Wednesday night, has been named as 15-year-old Jonah Handler.
Jonah Handler, 15, was carried out of the rubble by multiple first responders
Video from the scene showed firefighters pulling Jonah Handller from the rubble
The teen stuck his hand up through the rubble and was spotted amongst the rubble.
'He was saying: "Please don't leave me, don't leave me, don't leave me." So I told him: "We're right here. We won't leave you." That's when I tried to signal police officers and firefighters to get over there,' Balboa said.
Video from the scene showed the boy being carried out by firefighters on a stretcher after the Champlain Towers South beachfront building collapsed at about 1.30am on Thursday in Miami's Surfside neighborhood.
The boy, a 10th grader at Monsignor Edward Pace High School in Miami Gardens, was then taken to hospital with broken bones.
'He said his mother was in the apartment with him, so I couldn't see her or hear her, so I have no idea what her status was, but I do pray that she is alright,' Balboa said.
'As for him, you know, he's a guardian angel. That's all I can say. Given what happened, he came out unscathed.'
Video from the scene showed Handler being rescued by fire crews after the Champlain Towers South beachfront building collapsed at about 1.30am on Thursday
Nicholas Balboa spoke to CNN about his role in rescuing the child from the collapsed building in Miami overnight
Looking at the rubble, Balboa said he thought of the September 11 attacks and likened the scene opening before his eyes to something 'out of a horror movie.'
'I was thinking to myself, 'How could anyone survive?'' he said.
Frank Rollason, director of Miami-Dade Emergency Management, told the Miami Herald that rescuers saved a mother and child, but the woman's leg had to be amputated to remove her from the rubble.
It was not clear whether the child mentioned by Rollason was the same boy who was rescued by Balboa and seen in the video.
He was among the 35 rescued from the damaged building in the early stages of the rescue operation.
About 160 people were still unaccounted for on Friday morning as searchers using both big machines and their hands to comb through a twisted, shifting heap of concrete and metal with fears the death toll of at least four could go much higher.
With scores of firefighters working overnight to reach any possible survivors both from under and atop the remains of the building, hopes rested on how quickly crews using dogs and microphones to sift through the wreckage could complete their grim, yet delicate task.
'Every time we hear a sound, we concentrate on those areas,' said Assistant Miami-Dade Fire Chief Raide Jadallah.
Rescue workers remove a body from the rubble where a wing of a 12-story beachfront condo building collapsed, in the Surfside area of Miami
Pelted by intermittent rain showers, two heavy cranes began removing debris from the pile using large claws Friday morning, creating a din of crashing glass and metal as they picked up material and dumped it to the side. Once the machines paused, fire crews moved in to remove smaller pieces by hand.
Amid the work, Faydah Bushnaq knelt on the beach near the building's remains and scratched 'Pray for their souls' in the sand.
'We were supposed to be on vacation, but I have no motivation to have fun,' said Bushnaq of Sterling, Virginia. 'It is the perfect time to say a prayer for them.'
Three more bodies were removed overnight, and Miami-Dade Police Director Freddy Ramirez said authorities were working with the medical examiner´s office to identify the victims. Eleven injuries were reported, with four people treated at hospitals.
Rescue workers search through the rubble where a wing of a 12-story beachfront condo building collapsed in the Surfside area of Miami
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said rescuers were at "extreme risk" going through the rubble.
"Debris is falling on them as they do their work. We have structural engineers on site to ensure that they will not be injured, but they are proceeding because they are so motivated and they are taking extraordinary risk on the site every day," she said.
With searchers using saws and jackhammers to look for pockets large enough to hold a person, Levine Cava said there was still hope of finding people alive.
Those missing from what was left of the 12-story
