Surfside condo collapse death toll stands at 97

Ninety-two victims of the collapse have been identified and 92 families have been notified, according to a press release issued Thursday by the Miami-Dade mayor’s office.

“At this point in the recovery process, it has become increasingly difficult to identify the victims, and we rely heavily on the work of the medical examiner’s office and the scientific and technical process of identifying the human remains,” he said. declared a press release. “This job gets more difficult over time, even though our teams are working as hard and as fast as possible.”

Going forward, the county says it will only report the number of victims that have been identified, “out of respect for the families still waiting and to make sure we report the most accurate numbers possible.”

The remains of the Champlain Sud Towers, once too risky for heavy machinery and threatened by the remaining structure weighing down on rescuers, are now almost level with the ground as excavators remove piles of debris.

According to Miami-Dade County, more than 22 million pounds of concrete and debris have been removed.

The Miami-Dade Police Department identified six other victims of the collapse on Thursday:

Maria Notkin, 81
Michelle Anna Pazos, 23
Mihai Radulescu, 82 years old
Valérie Barth, 14 years old
Miguel Leonardo Kaufman, 65
Rosa Saez, 70 years old

Notkin, Pazos, Radulescu and Kaufman were recovered on Friday. Valeria and Saez were recovered on Sunday, the MDPD said.

“At the site of the original collapse, we are almost at the bottom,” MDPD police spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta told CNN. “Does that mean we’re almost done with the search? No. Until we clear the entire site and find more human remains, we won’t be done.”

While there is no longer any hope of finding survivors in the rubble, crews have been working almost non-stop since the June 24 collapse, aside from intermittent issues related to hazardous conditions due to weather and debris. mobile.

Officials in the region have promised the families of the victims to work diligently until all their loved ones are recovered, a task that is becoming increasingly urgent.

“The identification process has become more difficult over time,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “We have to rely heavily on the work of the medical examiner’s office (…) to identify the human remains. The process is very methodical and it is careful and it takes time,” she said.

In the research, 240 people have been identified, 97 victims have been recovered, of which 90 have been identified and 88 next of kin have been notified, according to a statement from Miami-Dade County. Eight people are still missing and all have open missing person reports with the Miami-Dade Police Department.

The site has been both a trying place to work and a solemn reunion.

The tragedy affected victims in several Latin American countries, including Colombia, Venezuela, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Surfside – a small, eclectic town of about 6,000 residents – is also home to a large population of Orthodox Jews. After the collapse when families got together, it was common to hear a mixture of conversations in Hebrew, Spanish, English and Portuguese.

The diverse community came together, trying to seize the strength in the faith. Synagogues and churches opened their arms for emergency prayer services after the collapse. Vigils were held for the missing, and many prayed, sobbed and hugged the ruins of the tower visible in the background.

“It is evident that it has become more than a collapsed yard. It is a sacred site,” Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said earlier this week.

Frantic 911 calls from the first moments of the collapse

Calls to 911 during the first moments of the deadly collapse reveal chaos and confusion among residents and bystanders as the building collapsed.

“It looks like something underground, everything exploded,” a caller told dispatchers, adding it looked like an earthquake.

Another caller, who told dispatchers they were in a parking lot, called for help.

Surfside condo collapse 911 calls reveal confusion and chaos as building collapses

“I know the police are already there. Can someone help me out, please? the appellant pleaded. “I was able to escape, but I’m out in the parking lot. If the building collapses, it will fall on my head.”

A caller told dispatchers his sister lived in the building, but was confused as to what had happened and how people would be rescued.

“I don’t know if anything happened to him, but half the building is no longer there,” the appellant said. “There are two people, they are, they are alive but that, they cannot go out because there is no building on the other side of their apartment.”

CNN obtained and transcribed these frantic phone calls about three weeks after the Champlain Towers South collapse.

Collapse boosts building safety reviews

The deadly collapse has boosted building safety reviews in South Florida, as officials and residents scramble to understand the vulnerability of aging structures.

Miami-Dade requires building owners to hire an engineer to inspect their structures every 10 years after age 40 – a requirement first adopted after an office building collapse in Miami in 1974 that killed seven people. Champlain Towers South was due to cross the 40th anniversary this year.

The latest city to conduct a review is Boca Raton – a city of nearly 100,000 people – where Mayor Scott Singer said on Tuesday his city council plans to institute a building recertification process similar to Miam’s protocols. Dade and Broward Counties.

But Singer noted that there will be key differences, including a shorter timeframe to recertify buildings and stricter reporting requirements.

The mayor added that authorities plan to require the recertification of buildings after 30 years or less, but the details will be discussed further in the coming weeks as the city council introduces the measure.

Surfside inspectors have visited the South Champlain Towers dozens of times. Now its collapse sparks calls for reform

“Our staff has done a full inventory of our buildings. But not just to service family residences but also our commercial buildings to determine what is most appropriate,” Singer said during the city’s live meeting on Tuesday. “I thought it was very important that we were proactive, that we put more stringent requirements and that we reassured people that we were taking more important measures for their safety.”

Boca Raton is located 38 miles on the Atlantic coast of Surfside.

Shortly after the collapse, Miami-Dade County Mayor Levine Cava said officials would examine buildings over 40 years old and over five stories, “making sure everything is in order. “with an appropriate certification.

In nearby Sunny Isles Beach, Deputy Mayor Larisa Svechin said inspections of the old condominiums would begin immediately.

And the city of Miami has sent a letter to buildings requesting further inspections for those over six stories and over 40 years old.

CNN’s Aya Elamroussi, Tina Burnside, Kelsie Smith, Rebekah Riess and Faith Karimi contributed to this report.

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