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Engineers monitor damaged structure as rescue crews continue their search for victims in Surfside
The search for victims continues Friday, nine days after the catastrophic partial collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside.
Local
SURFSIDE, Fla. – The search for victims continues Friday, nine days after the catastrophic partial collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside.
The mayor announced just before 5 p.m. Thursday that the search had resumed after a temporary halt due to safety concerns regarding the standing structure.
Families of the victims and rescuers were all desperate for the search to resume after it was halted early Thursday morning, but engineers said the stop was necessary.
Fortunately, after an assessment by engineers, first responders were able to get back to work.
As of Friday morning, 18 people have been confirmed dead and 145 remain unaccounted for.
More heavy machinery was seen moving in Friday.
“Operations resumed at 4:45,” Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Alan Cominsky said Thursday. “At this time, rescue squads will be working in three of the nine grids.”
When the work stopped, people were frustrated, but the safety of first responders was in jeopardy after structural engineers and their monitoring systems detected movement of 6 to 12 inches in a column of the structure still standing.