Hero describes moment he found boy alive in Miami rubble

Nicholas Balboa was walking his dog near his home when he “felt the ground shake, felt like an earthquake” — then rushed to the partially collapsed Miami condo tower, where he heard a boy crying for help.

He told CNN that the first thoughts that came to his mind when he saw the debris from a large portion of the Champlain Towers building “were the images of 9/11.”

“I was thinking to myself, ‘How could anyone survive?’” Balboa told the network.

“As I was thinking that, I heard a voice yelling,” he said, adding that as he got closer, he saw the boy “sticking his hand up through the debris and I could see his hand and fingers wiggling.”

Balboa said he and another person climbed up the mound of rubble to help, and then found police and firefighters to assist.

A massive search and rescue effort is underway following the partial collapse of a 12-story condominium building in Surfside, Miami, early Thursday on June 24, 2021.
A massive search and rescue effort is underway following the partial collapse of a 12-story condominium building in Surfside, Miami, early Thursday on June 24, 2021.
MEGA
First responders arrive at the partially collapsed building in Miami Beach, Florida.
First responders arrive at the partially collapsed building in Miami Beach, Florida.
CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images
Rescue crews pull a child from the rubble in Miami.
Rescue crews pull a child from the rubble in Miami.
Reliable News Media

“So then they began their efforts to get him out. It was him and his mother. We could hear him. We could see him clearly. His mom, we weren’t able to see, we weren’t able to hear her, so I don’t know what her status is, but god willing, she’s OK,” he added.

The child was under his bed frame and mattress.

“He was obviously sleeping,” Balboa said. “I can only imagine how many people were in their apartments either sleeping or watching TV or just whatever, just living their lives, unbeknownst to them the building was about to break away.”

A boy being rescued from underneath Miami building collapse.
A boy being rescued from underneath Miami building collapse.
Police stand guard from the beach near the damaged building.
Police stand guard from the beach near the damaged building.
CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images
Firefighters standby after a partial collapse of a building in Miami, Florida.
Firefighters standby after a partial collapse of a building in Miami, Florida.
AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
Miami-Dade Rescue team search the building for survivors.
Miami-Dade Rescue team search the building for survivors.
EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH

Describing the scene of the devastation, he said, “it was almost out of a horror movie.”

“I have no idea if it wasn’t for us — myself and the other gentleman — being on the back side of the building and as quiet as it was, I have no idea how long it would have been until they found him,” he added.

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