Natalie’s Commentary: Two Videos Capturing the 12 story condo collapse in Miami FL and the immediate aftermath when first responders responded to save lives. It was initially reported 3 dead, 99 persons unaccounted for and 30+ rescued. In an update the death toll climbs to four and dozens are still missing. Officials said, first responders and rescue crews are racing to uncover any hint of life among the debris and pulled another three bodies from the wreckage. Often in this kinds of situations miracles can sometimes happen.
In today’s update, June 25, 2021, 5:18 pm ET at least 4 dead and 159 people are unaccounted for in this tragic condominium collapse.
In another update Albert Aguero, along with his wife and their two kids, emerged intact after the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Fla., came tumbling down. Family members, in a Friday interview, recalled their brush with mortality in the middle of the night saying it was ‘Shaking so violently’ This New Jersey family of four are among the survivors of this deadly Florida building collapse.
This a laborious effort using sonar and small remote camera technology.
The federal government is sending experts to further investigate whether there is a need for further inspection that could affect the building codes. There is some structural failure. The critical part is the recertification process for these buildings and shouldn’t go for 40 years or more.
Now there is a class action lawsuit accusing the condo association of failing to safeguard and secure the lives of people occupying the condominium.
Obviously the clock is ticking to find survivors in the rumble. It is becoming increasingly unlikely but there can be long time survivors. It is coming up on 40 hours of searching. There are now DNA and dental records being asked from family members.
The injuries are crush orthopedic injuries and sometimes surgeons have to perform removing a limb to save the patients.
There are still family members that just want to get to the scene.
It is a frantic pace to detect and save lives under this very unstable pancake collapse. These men are extremely trained for these types of unexpected events where their expertise means saving critical lives trapped under the rubble.
Rescuers have heard banging giving great hope that many may still be alive and are trapped. Among them was the wife, mother, & grandmother shared by her eldest son as a beautiful person inside and out where her eldest son and his father were showing great hope she remains alive. It is a painstakingly job for those who put themselves under danger searching for those who remain trapped.
Of course canine trained dogs will be used to detect a life to be saved. It has been reported the sister of and her family to the first lady of the President of Paraguay were part of those trapped.
There is no answers at the moment to explain why this one attached condo and parking lot fell to the ground. The building is only 40 years old but there were some reported issues that were scheduled for maintenance and were delayed due to COVID-19. In the interim the building was sinking further into the ground but was suggested it was by a very small fraction. This building was facing the oceanfront and the salt water always decays the building’s structures but not enough to significantly attribute this collapse to element exposure. In an update nearly three years before parts of an oceanfront condo building gave way, an engineer reported alarming evidence of “major structural damage” to a slab of concrete beneath the pool as well as major “cracking” in the beams of the walls in the parking garage.
Of course all of our condolences and prayers go out to all the immediate families who are still trapped and trying to be rescued. And prayers especially for the family members who lost a loved one. Stay tuned for more update coverage in this article. Thank you. ~ Natalie
One Dead, 10 Known Injured After Oceanfront Residential Building Partially Collapses Near Miami Video capturing the horrifying collapse
SURFSIDE, Fla.—Hundreds of fire and rescue workers scoured through tons of rubble after a 12-story oceanfront residential building partially collapsed just north of Miami Beach early Thursday, leaving at least one person dead and at least 10 injured, officials said.
Dozens of people were evacuated from the building and from a nearby hotel, but it was not known how many more casualties there could be as the search and rescue operation was still continuing, officials said.
The building in the town of Surfside, Florida, about 15 miles (24 km) north of Miami on the Atlantic coast, partially collapsed about 2 a.m. (0600 GMT), for reasons unknown, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told the media.
“It’s hard to imagine how this could have happened,” Burkett said. “Buildings just don’t fall down.”
The Miami-Dade Police have assumed control of the investigation as to why the building collapsed. More than 80 fire and rescue units the Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue Department said in a tweet early Thursday.
An image posted on the Twitter account of the Miami Beach Police, which is assisting the operation, showed a tangle of rubble with debris cascading down from what was left of the balconies of the building.
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Eyewitness video obtained by Reuters showed neighbors gathering across the street from the rubble of a collapsed tower.
“This whole building here, it’s completely gone,” a person can be heard saying.
“MBPD and @MiamiBeachFire are assisting the Town of Surfside at a partial building collapse located at 8777 Collins Avenue in Surfside, Florida. Multiple police and fire agencies from across Miami-Dade are assisting,” the police said.
The 12-story building was built in 1981 and has more than 130 units, according to NBC Miami. Officials have said about 80 were occupied.
By Marco Bello
Wing of Miami-area condo collapses; at least 1 person dead
A wing of a 12-story beachfront apartment building has collapsed in a town outside Miami, killing at least one person while trapping residents in rubble and twisted metal
June 24, 2021, 6:45 AM
SURFSIDE, Fla. — A wing of a 12-story beachfront apartment building collapsed in a town outside Miami early Thursday morning, killing at least one person while trapping residents in rubble and twisted metal. Scores of rescuers pulled survivors from the debris as a cloud of dust floated through the neighborhood.
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett warned during a news conference that the building manager told him the tower was quite full and the death toll was likely to rise.
“The building is literally pancaked,” Burkett said. “That is heartbreaking because it doesn’t mean to me that we are going to be as successful as we wanted to be in finding people alive.”
Ten people were treated at the scene and two were brought to the hospital, one of whom died, Burkett said, adding that 15 families walked out of the building on their own.
The collapse left a number of apartments in the still-standing part of the building exposed. Television footage showed bunk beds, tables and chairs still left inside the damaged apartments. Air conditioner units were hanging from some parts of the building, where wires now dangled.
Work is currently being done on the building’s roof, but Burkett said he did not see how that could have caused the collapse. Authorities didn’t say what the cause may be.
“I’ve lived here my whole life and I’ve never seen anything like this happen,” the mayor said.
Barry Cohen, a former vice mayor of Surfside who lives in the building, said he heard loud noises in the middle of the night.
“I heard an incredible bang, and I figured it was a lightning storm. I realized it didn’t stop and kept on going for like 30 seconds,” Cohen said. “I called out to my wife. I said, ‘what’s going on do you hear this?’”
Santo Mejil, 50, told the Miami Herald that his wife called him from the building, where she was working as an aide for an elderly woman.
“She said she heard a big explosion. It felt like an earthquake,” Mejil told the newspaper. He said she later called him and said rescuers were bringing her down.
Miami Dade Fire Rescue was conducting search and rescue operations, and said in a tweet that more than 80 units were “on scene with assistance from municipal fire departments.”
“We’re on the scene so it’s still very active,” said Sgt. Marian Cruz of the Surfside Police Department. “What I can tell you is the building is 12 floors. The entire back side of the building has collapsed.”
The collapse appeared to affect one leg of the L-shaped tower. Piles of rubble and debris surrounded the area just outside the building, and cars up to two blocks away were coated with with a light layer of dust from the debris.
Teams of firefighters walked through the rubble, picking up survivors and carrying them from the wreckage. The
Police blocked nearby roads, and scores of fire and rescue vehicles, ambulances and police cars swarmed the area.
The seaside condo development was built in 1981 in the southeast corner of Surfside. It had a few two-bedroom units currently on the market, with asking prices of $600,000 to $700,000.
The area has a mix of new and old apartment buildings, houses and hotels, with restaurants and stores serving an international combination of residents and tourists. The community provides a stark contrast from bustle and glitz of nearby South Beach with a slower-paced neighborhood feel.
