Building collapse: More bodies found as 124 people remain unaccounted for

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said yesterday two more bodies had been found in the rubble of the collapsed Surfside apartment block, bringing the number of confirmed dead to 24.

The number of people who remain unaccounted for is  124. A leading Miami-Dade fire official, meanwhile, told families of people missing in the rubble that demolition workers planned to demolish the rest  of the building today.

Officials have become increasingly worried that the damaged structure could come crashing down on its own, endangering the crews below and complicating the search for victims.

Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah told families during a morning briefing yesterday that the building would be brought down “as soon as possible. First thing tomorrow”.

But he warned there “may be some hiccups”. A follow-up meeting was planned for later to finalise details of the demolition, which could be a precarious operation as experts enter the building to install explosives.

Fears that the building could collapse have hampered the search, and movement detected by monitors early last Thursday prompted a 15-hour suspension of the search until engineers determined the site was safe.

Mr Jadallah said the remnants of the demolished building would be removed immediately, giving rescuers access for the first time to parts of the garage area. Such access could give officials a clearer picture of the voids that might exist in the rubble and could possibly contain survivors.

No one has been rescued since the first hours after the June 24 collapse. The approach of Hurricane Elsa from the Caribbean Sea also raises concerns that strong winds possible in South Florida by late today or early tomorrow could further destabilise the standing portion of the building.

The confirmed death toll from the collapse of the apartment building stood at 22 early yesterday. Officials reduced the number of missing from 145 to 126 after duplicate names were eliminated and residents reported ‘missing’ people had turned up safe. Source: Independent