About two weeks after the partial collapse of a high-rise apartment building in Florida, the rescue workers stopped looking for survivors. For search and rescue operations, all available options have been exhausted, said the Miami Dade district administration chief Daniella Levine Cava on Wednesday.
Therefore, the “extremely difficult decision” had been made that the helpers would concentrate on recovering the corpses from midnight onwards.
86 people suspected in the rubble
The confirmed death toll had previously increased to 54. 86 people are still believed to be among the rubble of the building in the nearby Miami town of Surfside.
At the weekend, the remains of the partially collapsed residential high-rise were blown up in a controlled manner. As a result of the tropical storm «Elsa», which had meanwhile been upgraded to a hurricane, the remains of the building were also threatened with collapse.
The twelve-story residential building Champlain Towers South had partially collapsed on the night of June 24th. The exact cause of the accident is still unknown. In 2018, however, an appraisal had already found “major structural damage” to the building, which was completed in 1981. (AFP)