Workers demolish still-standing portion of Surfside condo tower with explosives
Search resumes in Miami after officials use explosives to demolish what’s left of collapsed condo tower, racing against time with Tropical Storm Elsa approaching and 115 STILL missing
- Miami-Dade officials allowed rescue crews to resume search for missing victims of Surfside condo collapse
- Resumption of search comes after controlled demolition of second condo tower late on Sunday night
- So far rescuers have recovered the remains of 27 people, with 115 still missing; 24 have been identified
- On Sunday, Miami-Dade police identified David Epstein, 58, as one of the 24 people known to have perished
- Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told NBC search resumed just before midnight on Sunday
- The demolition was carried out by Maryland-based company Controlled Demolition Inc.
- Israeli search-and-rescue expert Col. Golan Vach, who has been working with local rescue teams, said on Sunday afternoon, however, that he was doubtful that any survivors remained in the rubble
- It came as Tropical Storm Elsa is scheduled to make landfall in Florida on Tuesday night
- The approaching storm had added urgency to the effort for fear it could knock down what remained of the building in an uncontrolled manner
The remains of three more people were recovered Monday as rescuers got the all-clear to resume looking for victims at a collapsed South Florida condo after crews demolished the last of the building in an planned explosion and plume of dust.
As of early Monday morning, the remains of 27 people had been recovered while at least 115 remain missing. So far, 24 of the victims have been identified.
Approaching Tropical Storm Elsa has added urgency to the demolition with forecasts suggesting the system could bring strong winds. President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in Florida because of the storm, making federal aid possible.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told the Associated Press that the demolition went ‘exactly as planned’ around 10:30pm on Sunday.
Workers demolished what remained standing of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside on Sunday evening in a bid to open up further areas for rescue
So far, rescuers have recovered the remains of 27 people, with 115 still missing. The remains of 24 people have been identified
Rescuers hope the demolition will open up areas such as parts of the garage section of the building for the first time
Officials initially believed it would take weeks to tear down the damaged building
Officials made the announcement Saturday that they were bringing the building down out of fears it could collapse on its own
Search and rescue operations resumed soon after the remaining structure was razed
The images above show the progression of the demolition of the remaining structure late on Sunday
‘It was picture perfect. Exactly what we were told would happen,’ Levine Cava said in an interview shortly after the demolition.
The demolition on Sunday night was key to resuming the search for victims of the June 24 collapse and is even expected to open new areas for rescue teams to work in.
Crews immediately began clearing some of the new debris so rescuers could start making their way into parts of the underground garage that is of particular interest.
It wasn’t long before cranes were again in motion at the site. Levine Cava said in an interview on NBC’s TODAY that crews were back searching the rubble before midnight.
A pile of debris is seen above on the morning after the controlled demolition in Surfside on Monday
The image above shows another vantage point of the rubble of the demolished condo tower in Surfside on Monday morning
Approaching Tropical Storm Elsa had added urgency to the demolition plans with forecasts suggesting the system could bring strong winds. President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in Florida because of the storm, making federal aid possible.
Once there, they were hoping to get a clearer picture of voids that may exist in the rubble as they search for 121 people believed to be trapped under the fallen wing of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside that collapsed June 24.
No one has been rescued alive since the first hours after the collapse.
On Sunday, Miami-Dade police identified David Epstein, 58, as one of the 24 people known to have perished in the fallen tower. His remains were recovered on Friday.
The body of David’s wife, Bonnie, 56, was recovered days earlier. The couple, who worked in real estate investments, moved to Florida to retire early so that they could pursue their love of water sports, according to a friend.
Richard Oller, a friend of the couple, wrote on Facebook that David and Bonnie lived on the ninth floor of the building with their dog. The couple is survived by their son, Jonathan, 26, a resident of Brooklyn, New York.
Cranes are working to clear debris at the site of a demolished condo on Monday morning in Surfside, Florida
Rescue efforts at the site resumed just before midnight late on Sunday night – moments after the controlled demolition
A makeshift memorial was set up just feet away from the site of the collapsed condo in Surfside, Florida
The decision by officials to bring the rest of the building down was brought on by the approach of Tropical Storm Elsa and fears that the structure might come down in an uncontrolled fashion
Air conditioning units and other debris are seen above at the site of the controlled demolition in Surfside, Florida on Monday
So far, the remains of 24 people have been identified while at least 115 people remain missing as of early Monday morning
A sign that reads ‘Surfside Strong’ hangs on the window of a home the morning after the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condo was taken down with a controlled demolition
Some residents had pleaded to return to their homes one last time before the demolition to retrieve belongings left in haste, but were denied.
Others wondered about the pets left behind, even though officials said they found no signs of animals after making three final sweeps, including the use of drones to peer into the abandoned structure.
Levine Cava said officials have been explaining their decisions with the survivors since the beginning of the search-and-rescue effort.
‘We understand that families realize the fact that time has gone by, they realize that the chances are growing all dimmer,’ she said on TODAY.
‘They are with us, they know what we’ve been doing every step of the way.’
The mayor also said that teams are working to save any personal items they can.
‘We have been asking them to go ahead and catalog all of their precious belongings so that as soon as they are recovered, we’ll be able to make a match.’
Rescue crews are seen on Monday working at the site of the collapsed Champlain Towers South condo building after the remaining structure was demolished on Sunday
Rescuers were given the all-clear to resume work looking for victims on Monday morning
The demolition Sunday night was key to resuming the search for victims of the June 24 collapse and is even expected to open new areas for rescue teams to work in
On Sunday, Miami-Dade police identified David Epstein, 58, as one of the 24 people known to have perished in the fallen tower. His remains were recovered on Friday
Many people are unaccounted for in the rubble of the building which partially collapsed on June 24
Rescue crews are seen above on Monday working at the site of the collapsed Champlain Towers South condo building after the remaining structure was demolished late on Sunday
No one has been found alive since the first hours after the disaster.
Crews were to begin clearing some of the new debris so rescuers could start making their way into parts of the underground garage that is of particular interest.
Once there, they were hoping to get a clearer picture of voids that may exist in the rubble and could possibly harbor survivors.
On Sunday afternoon, however, Col. Golan Vach, an Israeli search-and-rescue operations expert who has been working at the site, said he was doubtful that further survivors would be found.
‘I believe right now that the chances are close to zero, unfortunately,’ Vach told reporters with Local 10.
‘We are trying to be hopeful, but realistic at the same time,’ he said of conversations with families of the victims.
Search efforts had been suspended Saturday to allow demolition workers to drill holes for the explosives needed to bring the damaged Surfside building down.
Through the night, rescuers were awaiting the ‘all-clear’ after the demolition so they could dive back into the task of trying to locate any survivors buried under the rubble.
Officials had previously said that the search could resume from 15 minutes to an hour after the detonation.
‘We are standing by. We are ready to go in, no matter the time of night,’ Levine Cava told a news conference earlier Sunday night.
Concerns had mounted that the damaged building was at risk of falling on its own. Parts of the remaining building shifted on Thursday, prompting a 15-hour suspension in the work.
Officials first announced plans to bring the partially collapsed building down at a news conference on Saturday morning.
The decision to raise the damaged building came as Tropical Storm Elsa bore down on the area
The demolition was carried out by Maryland-based company Controlled Demolition Inc
Stephanie Rioja prayed as the partially collapsed towers were demolished
Crowds watched the damaged building fall Sunday evening
Levine Cava issued a State of Emergency Saturday for Tropical Storm Elsa and made the ‘dramatic decision’ to sign an emergency order to raze the building before the storm hits the area.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during Saturday morning’s press conference that they wouldn’t let people who escaped go back and get their possessions before the demolition.
‘At the end of the day, that building is too unsafe to let people go back in,’ DeSantis said.
‘I know there’s a lot of people who were able to get out, fortunately, who have things there. We’re very sensitive to that. But I don’t think that there’s any way you could let someone go back up into that building given the shape that it’s in now.’
In terms of the demolition, officials were told Friday evening that it would take weeks to safely tear down the remaining structure, but Cava said Saturday morning that the Maryland-based demolition company Controlled Demolition Inc. came forward the previous night.
Controlled Demolition Inc. says on its website that it has demolished ‘thousands of structures across six continents using explosives.’
The method of demolition is called ‘energetic felling,’ which uses small detonation devices and relies on the force of gravity.
Levine Cava said that should bring the building down in place, containing the collapse to the immediate surroundings so as to minimally disturb the existing mound of debris — where scores of people are believed to be trapped.
Levine Cava said they work fast, their engineers have studied the scene Saturday and said they could demolish the building before the storm impacts Southeast Florida.
Meteorologists predict the eye of the storm, which was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, won’t directly hit the area, but Surfside and the surrounding municipalities could feel the brunt of strong wind gusts.
Elsa is scheduled to make landfall in the Florida Keys on Tuesday, according to meteorologists
The bulk of the storm is expected to run along the Florida’s west coast, although the area around Surfside could still feel its effects
Some models show Elsa spinning into the Gulf or up the Atlantic Coast. A tropical storm watch was in effect for the Florida Keys from Craig Key westward to Dry Tortugas
Elsa prompted Gov. Ron DeSantis to declare a state of emergency in 15 Florida counties, including in Miami-Dade County where the high-rise condominium building collapsed last week
While the Caribbean Islands are expected to be hit hardest, Florida officials fear the storm’s gusts would knock down the remaining structure ‘in a direction we don’t want it to go,’ Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said.
As of Sunday, AccuWeather forecasters say Elsa is most likely to enter the eastern Gulf of Mexico and approach Florida early next week. Southeast Florida will start to feel its effects Monday afternoon through the middle of the week.
According to AccuWeather, Florida is expected to get enough rainfall to cause flooding along with damaging winds.
The problem for the collapse site would be if the storm moves north, instead of continuing on its track along the Gulf Coast side of Florida.
If it moves north, the rain and gusty winds would shift inland and batter sections along Florida’s southern shoreline, according to AccuWeather.
As of Sunday, the storm was predicted to make landfall north of Tampa and head along the west coast of Florida.
A Miami-Dade County Police boat patrols in front of the Champlain Towers South condo building on Friday, shortly before officials made the decision to demolish the remaining structure with explosives
Workers transport a stretcher with remains extricated from the rubble on Friday, near the Champlain Towers South condo building, where 121 people remain missing more than a week after it partially collapsed
The official cause of the June 24 collapse is under investigation. A 2018 engineering report found that the building’s ground-floor pool deck was resting on a concrete slab that had ‘major structural damage’ and needed extensive repairs. The report also found ‘abundant cracking’ of concrete columns, beams and walls in the parking garage.
Just two months before the building fell, the president of its board wrote a letter to residents saying that structural problems identified in the 2018 inspection had ‘gotten significantly worse’ and that major repairs would cost at least $15.5 million.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill visited the site and the makeshift memorial earlier this week and met with local and state officials in Florida, victims’ families and first responders.
‘I promise you: I know. What you’re doing here is incredible,’ the president told first responders.
THE MIAMI CONDO COLLAPSE VICTIMS IDENTIFIED SO FAR
54-year-old Stacie Fang
STACIE DAWN FANG
Stacie Dawn Fang, 54, was with her son Jonah Handler, a teenager, when the building collapsed. They lived on the tenth floor. The boy’s small hand waved through the wreckage as a man out walking his dog hurried to the site, climbed through a pile of glass and rebar and promised to get help right away.
Rescuers helped the boy out from under a pile of cement and carried him away on a stretcher to a hospital.
‘There are no words to describe the tragic loss of our beloved Stacie,’ members of her family said in a statement. ‘Many heartfelt words of encouragement and love have served as a much needed source of strength during this devastating time.’
Asked about the boy’s condition, a family friend, Lisa Mozloom told the AP ‘He will be fine. He’s a miracle.’
MANUEL LAFONT
Manuel LaFont, 54
Manuel LaFont, 54, was a proud father, a baseball fan and a business consultant who lived on the building’s eighth floor.
He had a 10-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter with his ex-wife Adriana LaFont, the Miami Herald reported.
Adriana asked her friends on Facebook to pray the rosary for Manny before his body was found. ‘So many memories inside the walls that are no more today, forever engraved experiences in the heart,’ she wrote.
LaFont, a Houston native, coached his son’s baseball team, the Astros, at North Shore Park, just a mile away from the Champlain. He was a parishioner at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Miami Beach. The parish’s school parents gathered Saturday afternoon to pray for LaFont and his neighbors who were still missing.
An alumnus of Sharpstown High School in Houston, LaFont had worked across Latin America and the Caribbean for a manufacturing firm, leading a division focusing on roadway safety that built crash cushions and moveable barriers, the Herald reported.
‘I got into this industry specifically because I don’t want to sell widgets. I want to help people. I want to do something good in this world,’ he said at an industry conference in 2016. ‘When I die, I want to say that my life meant something.’
ANTONIO AND GLADYS LOZANO
Antonio and Gladys Lozano
Antonio and Gladys Lozano lived on the ninth floor. The two had known each other over 60 years and would have celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary on July 21.
Their sons told WPLG-TV that the couple had joked neither wanted to die before the other, because neither wanted to live without the other. Their one solace, the brothers said, was that they were together when they died.
Authorities confirmed on Saturday that Antonio, 83, and Gladys, 79, were among the dead.
Sergio Lozano said he had dinner with his parents hours before the collapse. He lived in one of the towers of the complex and could see his parents’ apartment across the way from his. That night, he said the heard a loud noise they thought could be a storm.
‘The building is not there,’ he said he told his wife. ‘My parents’ apartment is not there. It’s gone.’
ANA ORTIZ, HER HUSBAND FRANK AND HER SON LUIZ
Ana Ortiz, left, and her son Luis Bermudez and Leon Oliwkowicz and his wife Christina (right)
Luis Bermudez, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, had battled with muscular dystrophy for years and used a wheelchair. The 26-year-old man lived with his mother Ana Ortiz on the seventh floor of the Champlain Towers South.
His father, also named Luis Bermudez, texted the AP saying ‘my son is a hero.’ He also wrote on Facebook that he could not believe he’s gone.
‘Now rest in peace and without any obstacles in heaven,’ he wrote. ‘I will see you soon my Luiyo.’
Ortiz, 46, had just gotten married with Frankie Kleiman. Alex Garcia, the couple’s close friend, told The Miami Herald he had set them up on a blind date. Kleiman lived with his wife and stepson on the same floor as his brother Jay Kleiman, who was in town for a funeral, and their mother Nancy Kress Levin. The Kleimans and their mother are still missing.
50-year-old Frank Kleiman, left, was found on Monday. He was Ana’s husband
Ortiz was described as a woman who was committed to giving her son the best possible life.
‘She´s a rock star. And gorgeous,” Garcia told the Herald. “And on top of that a super mom.
FRANK KLEIMAN
Kleiman, 50, was the husband of Ana Ortiz, whose body was found alongside that of her disabled son, Luiz, over the weekend.
LEON AND CHRISTINA OLIWKOWICZ
Leon Oliwkowicz and his wife Christina were also identified as victims of the tower collapse on Sunday evening
The couple lived on the 8th floor of the condo tower for several years, according to Venezuelan journalist Shirley Varnagy, a close friend of their family.
They were among six Venezuelan natives caught in the building’s collapse. Still missing Monday were Moisés Rodán, 28; Andrés Levine, 27; Luis Sadovnik, 28, and his wife, Nicole Langesfeld, Varnagy said.
Varnagy said the Oliwkowicz’s daughter had been outside the building waiting for some information about their fate. Her husband answered their phone and asked to be left alone.
The couple’s daughter, Mrs. Leah Fouhal, works as a secretary at a Jewish school in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, where the couple donated a Torah in 2019 in a procession that included a vintage fire truck, music and a giant velvet and gold crown, according to COLlive.com, an Orthodox Jewish news outlet that covers Chabad-Lubavitch communities around the world.
Meanwhile, the parents of Rodán, Levine and Sadovnik live in Venezuela and traveled to the U.S. Friday. ‘Some did not have a visa, others had an expired passport, but with diplomatic collaboration they were able to arrive,’ Varnagy said.
MICHAEL DAVID ALTMAN
The body of 52-year-old Marcus Joseph Guara was recovered on Saturday
HILDA NORIEGA
Hilda Noriega (pictured) was named by her family Wednesday as the 12th confirmed victim of the tragedy
Hilda Noriega, who lived in Apt. 602 in the 12-story tower, was the mother of North Bay Village Police Chief Carlos Noriega.
She had only recently celebrated her 92nd birthday.
Her body was discovered among the remains of the condo tower Tuesday.
Her family paid tribute to the ‘matriarch of the family’ in a statement Wednesday.
Noriega’s son had traveled to the collapse site Thursday to look for his mother, who had only recently celebrated her 92nd birthday.
Among the rubble, the police chief found a birthday card a relative had given to Noriega at a brunch, reported Local10.
Emma Guara, 4, Lucia Guara, 10, Anaely Rodriguez, 42, and Marcus Guara, 52
THE GUARA FAMILY
Miami-Dade police identified 10-year-old Lucia Guara and 4-year-old Emma Guara as victims in the condo collapse on Wednesday, June 30.
The remains of their father, Marcus Guara, 52, were pulled from the rubble Saturday and identified Monday. The girls and their mother, Anaely Rodriguez, 42, were recovered Wednesday.
The family lived on the eighth floor of the condo.
DAVID AND BONNIE EPSTEIN
Bonnie and David Epstein were on the ninth floor when the building gave way. Their son, Jonathan, who lives in New York City said he hasn’t been able to contact them.
‘I’m trying to be a little optimistic, but I just don’t see it,’ he told WJXT.
‘It just doesn’t seem real, you know? Why this building? It doesn’t make sense. I don’t know. I’m struggling to make sense of it.’
Bonnie and David Epstein were on the ninth floor when the building gave way. Authorities identified David’s body on Sunday. His wife was found days earlier
On Sunday, Miami-Dade police identified David, 58, as one of the 24 people known to have perished in the fallen tower. His remains were recovered on Friday.
Bonnie’s body was recovered days earlier. She was 56 years old.
The couple, who worked in real estate investments, moved to Florida to retire early so that they could pursue their love of water sports, according to a friend.
Richard Oller, a friend of the couple, wrote on Facebook that David and Bonnie lived on the ninth floor of the building with their dog.
GRACIELA CATTAROSSI AND STELLA CATTAROSSI
Seven-year-old Stella Cattarossi’s body was found alongside her mother Graciela, 48
A Miami firefighter was present when the body of his seven-year-old daughter was recovered from the rubble of the Surfside condo catastrophe in Florida.
Officials said the body of Stella Cattarossi was found Tursday, seven days after the collapse of Champlain South Tower which has left 22 confirmed dead and 126 still missing.
Friends posting online said the girl was found sleeping alongside her 48-year-old mother Graciela. Authorities later confirmed that both mother and daughter were found.
They were staying with Graciella’s elderly parents, Graciela and Gino Cattarossi, who have not been identified, but are also unaccounted for.
Stella’s father Enrique Arango – a ten-year veteran of the Miami Fire Rescue department – is a member of the rescue team who found the girl and was present when her body was recovered.
He had been on the site with his brother.
Graciela’s sister Andrea, an architect based in Pilar, Argentina, was visiting at the time of the disaster. She is also still missing.
GONZALO TORRE
Gonzalo Torre, 81, whose remains were found on Saturday, lived at the condo.
MARICOY OBIAS-BONNEFOY AND CLAUDIO BONNEFOY
The bodies of Chilean national Claudio Bonnefo, 85, and his wife Maria ‘Maricoy’ Obias-Bonnefoy, 69, were identified by authorities.
They were among at least 36 people from Latin American nations that are missing, according to the Miami Herald. The couple were reported missing from Unit #1001.
Maricoy Obias-Bonnefoy, born in the Philippines, reportedly called her niece Irene Obias-Sanchez on the evening of the building collapse to discuss a family get-together planned for that coming Sunday.
The bodies of Chilean national Claudio Bonnefo, 85, and his wife Maria ‘Maricoy’ Obias-Bonnefoy, 69, were identified by authorities
It would have been one their first family gatherings since the pandemic as the Bonnefoys were strict about following lockdown restrictions.
‘I could have just texted her back like I often did, but last night it felt different. I knew she wanted to talk about a get-together we were planning on Sunday with my sisters. She was so excited to finally be able to socialize with family after everyone was vaccinated,’ Obias-Sanchez said.
Obias-Bonnefoy had immigrated to the US in the 1970s and worked at the International Monetary Fund in Washington D.C. before moving to retiring and moving to Surfside about 10 years ago, the Miami Herald reported.
ANDREAS GIANNITSOPOULOS
Andreas Giannitsopoulos, 21, of Houston was about to start his senior year at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
Miami-Dade Police identified him as one of the victims of the June 24 condo collapse in Surfside.
Giannitsopoulos was in Surfside to visit his godfather and his father’s best friend, Manuel ‘Manny’ LaFont.
Andreas Giannitsopoulos, 21, of Houston was about to start his senior year at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Miami-Dade Police identified him as one of the victims of the June 24 condo collapse in Surfside
The 54-year-old, a coach and business consultant, was also identified as one of the victims.
‘My brother was honestly like my other half,’ 19-year-old Athanasia Giannitsopoulos told The Tennessean.
‘He was my best friend as well as my older brother, so he always protected me and he was always there for me no matter what.
‘He was the most selfless person I have ever met in my life.’
