A video taken moments before part of a Miami condominium building crumbled to the ground on June 24 appeared to show a water leak and a pile of rubble in the structure’s parking garage.
Adriana Sarmiento and her husband were on vacation at the Bluegreen Vacations Solara Surfside Resort when they heard a boom and rushed to Champlain Towers South, she said. The pair began recording minutes before 55 units within the 12-story building collapsed and was reduced to a 30-foot pile of rubble.
As of Thursday, 18 bodies have been found, including two children, after weeklong rescue efforts. Search teams had to stop looking through the pile due to “structural concerns” pertaining to “standing structures” in the area. More than 145 people are unaccounted for.
HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE SURFSIDE CONDO COLLAPSE SO FAR
“We’re doing everything we can to ensure the safety of our first responders is paramount and to continue our search and rescue operations as soon as it is safe to do so,” said Mayor Daniella Levine Cava during a press conference.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said, “Obviously, we believe that continuing searching is something that’s very, very important. We’re going to provide whatever resources they need to be able to allow the searches to continue.”
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrived in Miami around 9:30 a.m. Thursday to meet with Cava, DeSantis, and other prominent authorities to be briefed on the situation. The pair will then meet with first responders and families of the victims.
Officials face more challenges as Tropical Storm Elsa is set to make landfall in the Sunshine State early next week. It was upgraded from a tropical depression Thursday morning.
Here are the 5 am AST Thursday, July 1 Key Messages for Tropical Storm #Elsa. Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect for Barbados, St. Lucia, Martinique, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.https://t.co/6zNCsAYIAB pic.twitter.com/o5dA3bP3qV
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) July 1, 2021
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Questions have been raised about the cause of the building’s collapse after documents released by the city of Surfside suggested the structure needed $9 million in repairs in 2018. The building was also said to have had “major structural damage.”
