Surfside building collapse: Death toll hits 28 as demolition opens new areas to searchers
By Douglas Hanks, Bianca Padró Ocasio, and David Ovalle, The Miami Herald
Surfside, Florida – The successful implosion of the Champlain Towers South condo paved the way for rescue workers early Monday to begin scouring a previously inaccessible portion of the building. The demolition provided hope, however slim, that survivors might be hidden in voids in the massive pile of twisted concrete, metal, and debris.
But it also signaled that firefighters will likely begin finding more victims at an accelerated pace. Indeed, by Monday evening, county officials announced that four more bodies had been discovered in the wake of the implosion, raising the death toll to 28, with 117 still missing in what could become one of the deadliest building failures in US history.
Govenor Ron DeSantis, who toured the Surfside site Monday, said rescuers are now searching what "happened to be where a lot of master bedroom areas were."
"Likely a lot of people who were sleeping at that time, unfortunately," he said.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue officials made the grim announcement on deaths to family members and the press Monday morning, nearly two weeks after the Champlain Towers South building suddenly collapsed, spurring a massive and complicated rescue effort. During an evening briefing, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced another victim had been discovered during the day of intense searching.
Police on Monday afternoon identified two more victims as Ingrid Ainsworth (66) and Tzvi Ainsworth (68). The couple, according to press reports, had lived in Australia for nearly two decades before moving recently to Surfside to be closer to family.
"Please join me in praying for those who lost their lives," Levine Cava said during a morning press briefing at the county’s emergency operations center.
"Devastating" demolition went as planned
Officials said that rescuers were now able to access the portion of the collapsed building that had been holding up the upright tower, which had been too unstable to search earlier. Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said search operations were "now moving much faster than they ever have" after demolition.
Levine Cava insisted the operation, now on its 12th day, was a "rescue" – not a "recovery."
"There is hope there are voids to continue the search and rescue operation," she said when asked about the possibility of finding survivors.
The agonizing search for survivors had been complicated by unstable conditions at the site, with shifting rubble and the possibility of the remaining tower collapsing atop rescue crews. Experts also worried that winds from Tropical Storm Elsa could also topple the building over the eastern portion of the site that initially collapsed.
On Saturday, officials paused the search as demolition experts began planting explosives into concrete pillars, hoping to implode the building as safely as possible – and minimally disturbing the rubble pile where victims’ bodies are trapped.
On Sunday night, about 10:30 PM, the controlled explosion sent a plume of dust and smoke into the sky. The cloud blew west into the neighborhood of single-family homes that make up the usually sleepy beach town of Surfside. Within minutes, a thick haze enveloped the neighborhood. But by 11:00 PM, the air cleared.
By 1:00 AM, rescue crews had returned to the site in "full search and rescue mode," the mayor said. She said the demolition went "exactly as planned."
"Only dust landed on the existing pile," Levine Cava said, calling the move a "devastating decision."
Tropical Storm Elsa may impact search and rescue efforts
By daylight Monday, two cranes could be seen lifting cement from the giant rubble pile. To the south of the original collapsed area, parts of the roof sat atop the rubble. Air-conditioning units, halved balconies, and curled-up rebar could be seen sticking out of the debris. Rescue teams wearing respirators were climbing through the mountain.
The mayor insisted that fire-rescue workers had done "multiple full sweeps" of the building to try to find left-behind pets. Firefighters, at "great personal risk," looked in person Sunday under beds and in closets in condo units looking for animals, Levine Cava said. Drones with thermal imaging cameras also probed in areas that could not be searched on foot.
"We went to great personal lengths to ensure all the pets who are beloved family members, that none were left behind," Levine Cava said.
Animal welfare advocates online had expressed concern about the pets left behind in the standing structure. Miami firefighters last week had used a cherry picker to leave food and water on a fourth-floor balcony for a cat named Coco.
On Sunday night, just before the implosion, a lawyer for an animal-rescue volunteer went to court seeking to allow entry into the building to look for stranded pets. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman, who is overseeing the civil lawsuit in the case, declined.
"Despite these Herculean efforts and the tireless, daunting work that has been done, there is going to be loss of life here," Hanzman said. "Loss of human life and animal life."
County officials said they were continuing to watch Tropical Storm Elsa, which was not expected to make a direct impact on Miami-Dade County, but will still deliver nasty weather on Monday night.
"We can continue to expect Miami will experience heavy rain and some winds throughout today and tomorrow," National Weather Service expert Robert Molleda said during Monday’s press briefing.
The mayor said rescue crews can continue to work in winds up to 30 miles per hour.
Cover photo: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire