Rescue Efforts In The Miami Building Collapse Have Been Halted Over Fears The Rest Of The Tower Might Fall
Search and rescue efforts at the building collapse in Surfside, Florida, have been temporarily halted over fears that the rest of the condo complex might topple, officials said Thursday, prolonging an excruciating wait for families still hoping that their loved ones will be found.
"We're doing everything we can to ensure that the safety of our first responders is paramount and to continue our search and rescue operation as soon as it's safe to do so," Miami-Dade mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at a press conference. "The only reason for this pause is concerns about the standing structure."
Officials suspended operations at around 2 a.m. after devices used to monitor cracks in the concrete signaled "some expansion" in the cracks, fire Chief Alan Cominsky said. Structural engineers on site also found that there was 6 to12 inches of movement in a column hanging from the building that could fall and further damage support columns in the underground garage.
So far, the bodies of 18 victims have been recovered, including two children aged 4 and 10. Officials said Wednesday evening that 145 people are still missing.
Alfredo Ramirez, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, said they have also recovered human remains. Families of those missing have submitted DNA to help authorities identify bodies and remains pulled from the rubble.
Cominsky said he could not give a timeframe for when the search and rescue operation will begin again, but he is "optimistic" that it will.
"Our primary focus is rescuing our victims as well as protecting our fire personnel that are life-saving as well," he said. "Our primary focus will be to see how we can get back out there and continue our search and rescue efforts."
The rescue effort — on its seventh day before operations were halted — has exhausted first responders and frustrated families. The tower pancaked when it collapsed, leaving behind a large mound of rubble that officials have had to maneuver through carefully.
Rescue teams were working on top of the rubble and underneath, tunneling up from the parking garage.
Local, state, and federal leaders have authorized resources to assist the operation, and President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Surfside on Thursday.
The operation has been dangerous and difficult from the very beginning, officials said, with debris shifting and falling on rescue teams they work through the rubble. Early on in the rescue efforts, Cominsky said fire personnel working underneath the structure initially heard audible voices.
"They were searching for a female voice is what we heard for several hours, and eventually we didn't hear her voice anymore," he said. "We continued searching. ... Unfortunately we didn't have success with that."
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18 People Have Been Found Dead In The Miami Building Collapse So Far, And 145 Are Still MissingClarissa-Jan Lim · June 30, 2021
