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Surfside building collapse latest: Rescuers brave the elements as Tropical Storm Elsa approaches
At least 28 people have been confirmed dead and 117 others remain unaccounted for since a 12-story residential building partially collapsed in Florida last month.
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At least 28 people, including three children, have been confirmed dead and 117 others remain unaccounted for since a 12-story residential building partially collapsed in South Florida's Miami-Dade County last month.
The partial collapse occurred around 1:15 a.m. on June 24 at the Champlain Towers South condominium in the small, beachside town of Surfside, about 6 miles north of Miami Beach. Approximately 55 of the oceanfront complex's 136 units were destroyed, according to officials. Since then, hundreds of first responders have been carefully combing through the pancaked layers of debris in hopes of finding survivors.
The part of the building that remained standing was cleared of any people or pets before it was demolished on Sunday night, due to concerns about its structural integrity. However, it was too dangerous for surviving residents to enter the building to retrieve their belongings, officials said.
"Obviously it wasn't worth that risk," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a press conference in Surfside on Monday. "We cannot lose any more people."
The massive search and rescue mission is now in its 13th day, as teams are able to operate at full capacity and search in areas that were previously inaccessible. At least four more bodies have been recovered from the wreckage since the demolition.
"The heavy equipment is now able to move around the site as needed," Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said at the press conference. "The looming threat of that building, the dangerous situation where debris could fall down is now eliminated."
Burkett told reporters that the search and rescue operation will continue 24 hours a day until everyone is pulled from the rubble. But the hope that more people would be found alive appeared to be fading, as no survivors have been discovered in the debris since the morning of the partial collapse. Among those recently found dead was the 7-year-old daughter of a Miami firefighter.
Meanwhile, 190 people who were living or staying in the condominium at the time of the disaster have been accounted for and are safe, according to Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who has stressed that the figures are "very fluid."