Sister-in-law of Paraguay’s president and her family missing in condo collapse

The sister-in-law of Paraguay’s president and her family are among the 99 people unaccounted for in the deadly partial collapse of a 12-story oceanfront condo building near Miami, officials and reports said Thursday.

Sophia López Moreira, her husband, Luis Pettengill, and the couple’s three children are all missing, as is a sixth Paraguayan national, Lady Luna Villalba, the nation’s foreign affairs ministry said in a statement.

Moreira is the sister of Paraguay’s first lady, Silvana López Moreira, and sister-in-law of President Mario Abdo Benítez, according to the Daily Mail.

Moreira’s family reportedly owned a condo in the tower.

Part of the building in Surfside, Fla. — just north of Miami Beach — abruptly gave way around 1:30 a.m. Thursday, trapping sleeping residents beneath a mountain of rubble.

At least one person has been confirmed dead, at least 10 more were injured and 99 people remain unaccounted for, according to officials, who noted that some of those 99 people may not have been in the building at the time of the collapse.

The missing also included prominent Argentinian plastic surgeon Andres Galfrasconi, his partner and their newly adopted 6-year-old daughter, according to the Daily Mail, which reported that the family was visiting Miami to get their COVID-19 vaccinations.

Dr. Brad Cohen, an orthopedic surgeon at a local hospital, is also among the missing, the outlet reported, citing his wife, Soriya Cohen.

It remains unclear what caused the collapse, and first responders are still laboring among the rubble in a desperate search for survivors.