DANIA BEACH, Fla. – The exterior wall of a Dania Beach building partially collapsed Thursday morning.
A view from Sky 10 showed the inside of the building at 21 N. Federal Highway exposed as the wall was separated from the roof.
"It was crazy, I was panicking. The first thing I thought (was), hopefully no one got hurt," said Yvonne Reis, who is friends with the business owners.
Broward Sheriff's Office Department of Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Michael Kane said workers at a construction site on the south side of the building were trenching at the time that the wall collapsed.
"While this building was occupied at the time of the collapse, the south wall fell away from the building, sparing any potential victims who were inside," Kane said.
During a search of the building, firefighters rescued a kitten from the rubble.
Kane said the building was a mixed-use occupancy with businesses on the first floor and apartments on the second floor, but nobody was injured.
"We have searched the building with our K-9. We have had firefighters through the building. We have found no victims," Kane said.
Traffic was being diverted in the area near North Federal Highway and Dania Beach Boulevard as business owners on the first floor and residents on the second floor tried to salvage what they could.
"Well, we don't know if our section is going to be condemned or not, so we are just taking the computer and stuff, but we have a boxing ring and bags and stuff that we can't take right now," Reis said.
It was not immediately clear how the wall separated from the rest of the building.