LIVE UPDATES: Miami condo collapse death toll rises to 22, 126 remain unaccounted for
Officials are preparing for the likely demolition of the remaining building
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North Miami Beach officials have released the inspector's report that led them to evacuate a 10-story high rise apartment building roughly 7 miles away from the site of the deadly Champlain Towers South collapse in neighboring Surfside, Fla.
The collapse, which left at least 22 people dead and 146 unaccounted for as of Friday evening, prompted a county-wide audit of buildings 40 years old or older and over five floors high.
Read the report here.
Furniture sits perched in the remains of apartments sheared in half, in the still standing portion of the Champlain Towers South condo building, more than a week after it partially collapsed, Friday, July 2, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. Rescue efforts on the rubble pile below resumed Thursday evening after being halted for most of the day over concerns about the stability of the remaining structure.(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
City officials in North Miami Beach have ordered the shutdown and evacuation of a high-rise condo complex there, roughly a week after a deadly collapse left dozens of people missing in a neighboring community. Building Department officials ordered the evacuation of Crestview Towers Friday evening after the condo board turned over an inspector's report that found structural flaws, according to a city spokesperson.
Emergency management officials said Hurricane Elsa could impact the rescue effort, depending on how near it tracks to Miami.
The storm is currently in the eastern Caribbean. It was about 505 miles southeast of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republican with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph and moving west at 30 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
It is expected to gain strength as it approaches land and could reach southern Florida overnight Sunday or early Monday.
The demolition process of the portion of Champlain Towers South that remains standing will begin after engineers sign off on a plan, according to Miami-Dade County Mayo Daniella Levine Cava.
"The building poses a threat to public safety," she said, although concerns about the search and rescue effort required a thorough look from engineers before authorities decide how to proceed.
"Over the course of today’s search we did recover two additional victims," the mayor said during a Friday evening news conference.
That brings the death toll up to 22, with 126 people remaining unaccounted for.
"Our detectives are continually editing this list as we verify every single report that we received regarding a potentially missing person," she said. "As a result these numbers will continue to change."
President Joe Biden speaks about the June jobs report in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus, Friday, July 2, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
President Biden increased the level of federal funding available for debris removal and emergency protective measures at the Champlain Towers South condo building collapse in Surfside, Fla. The expanded funding comes as 128 people remain missing and only 20 have been confirmed dead.
Search and rescue personnel work alongside heavy machinery atop the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of people remain missing more than a week after it partially collapsed, Friday, July 2, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. Rescue efforts resumed Thursday evening after being halted for most of the day over concerns about the stability of the remaining structure.(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
A Miami firefighter working at the site of the Florida building collapse Thursday was among a crew of search workers who recovered the remains of his own daughter, officials said Friday.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said today that 128 are still unaccounted for following the Champlain Towers South building collapse, down from the 145 that was being reported as of this morning.
The reason for the lessened tally is that officials conducted an audit of a list of those believed missing and removed duplicate names, according to the Associated Press.
Some people that also were reported missing have since turned up safe.
Workers who were inside the Champlain Towers South condo building last October spotted concrete deterioration and reinforcement corrosion so severe that they couldn’t conduct repairs over concerns that it "could affect the stability of the remaining adjacent concrete constructions," a report says.
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Furniture clings to the remains of an apartment sheared in half, in the still standing portion of the Champlain Towers South condo building, on Friday. (AP)
Susana Alvarez, who escaped from the 10th floor of Champlain Towers South, tells the Associated Press that she doesn’t have anything as she “walked out with my pajamas and my phone.”
Those who managed to get to safety have little hope of returning to the condos they once lived in to retrieve their possessions as officials announced last night it is “likely” the remaining portion of the building will be demolished.
Organizations are now working to help those who were forced out of their homes.
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Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava says first responders have found two additional victims at the Champlain Towers South Collapse site, bringing the death toll up to 20.
“Tragically, one of those victims was the 7-year-old daughter of a city of Miami firefighter,” she told reporters.
A total of 128 people remain unaccounted for, according to Cava.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says officials are keeping close watch on the track of the newly-formed Hurricane Elsa.
“It is possible this area could see tropical storm force winds,” DeSantis told reporters in Surfside.
“Our department of emergency management is assuming that that will happen and making the necessary preparations to be able to protect the equipment” at the Surfside collapse site, he added.
Florida officials are providing an update on the search and rescue efforts at the Champlain Towers South collapse site.
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Personal belongings are seen Friday amid debris dangling from the remains of apartments sheared in half, in the still standing portion of the Champlain Towers South condo building, more than a week after it partially collapsed. (AP)
A first responder working the scene of the Champlain Towers South condo collapse tells WPLG that another rescuer found the body of his own daughter Thursday night amongst the rubble.
The individual – who asked not to be identified – said the father draped his jacket over the girl’s body and placed a small American flag on the gurney that carried her away from the debris.
The remains then were escorted by the father, his brother and other responders through a group of police officers and firefighters who had lined up on a nearby road, the station adds.
As of right now, the official death toll remains at 18, but images are emerging of rescuers removing additional human remains from the site this morning.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue tells Fox News that officials will provide another update on the search and rescue effort at an 11:30 a.m. press conference today.
(AP)
Search and rescue personnel remove remains on a stretcher as they work atop the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo building on Friday.
President Joe Biden, center, flanked by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, left, and Incident Commander Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, right, listens during a briefing with first responders and local officials in Miami Beach, Fla., on Thursday. (AP)
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava says she is “immensely grateful to President Biden and our First Lady for visiting our community and reaffirming their full support” on Thursday.
“As he told the families, there are no words that can ease their pain — but together, we will get through this,” she added in a tweet.
From left, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel Fai Yeung and Chief Melanie C. Adams visit the makeshift memorial setup near the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside, Fla., on Thursday. (AP/Miami Herald)
A 17-year-old student who runs a nonprofit called Helping Others and Giving Hope has played a role in securing fresh flowers for a makeshift memorial for the victims, according to the Miami Herald.
Steven Ferreiro, who says he “always loved giving back, thanks to my parents,” reached out to local florist Galleria Farms – which in turn donated around 25 boxes of flowers for the memorial in Surfside, the newspaper says.
Ferreiro and his friends also have gotten Pepsi to donate 10 pallets of snacks and refreshments for first responders, amongst other items for those working to clear the rubble.
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A Coast Guard boat patrols in front of the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South condo building on Thursday. (AP)
The Federal Aviation Administration says flight restrictions imposed over the Champlain Towers South collapse site will now remain in place for the rest of the month.
“The #FAA and @MiamiDadeFire have an important message for drone pilots: Stay clear of recovery efforts in the area around the Surfside building collapse in Miami Beach, FL,” the agency said in a tweet, warning that violators “may be prosecuted.”
FILE - In this June 30, 2021, file photo, light shines on the Champlain Towers South as search and rescue teams continue looking for survivors of the partially collapsed residential building in Surfside, Fla. (Pedro Portal/Miami Herald via AP, File)
As rescuers in Surfside, Florida, continue to search for survivors in the rubble of Champlain Towers South, officials have started planning for the "likely" demolition of the remaining structure, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Thursday evening.
"This is a decision we need to make extremely carefully and methodically as we consider all the possible impacts to the pile of debris and to our search and rescue operation," the mayor said.
Scott Nacheman, a FEMA structures specialist, said it would likely take weeks before officials schedule the demolition. Engineers are currently looking at different methods about how to proceed "to make the site safe for ongoing rescue operations," he said.
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