- The Miami-Dade County Fire and Rescue Department announced that it would stop searching for human remains in the rubble of an apartment building that collapsed on June 24 in Florida.
- According to the authorities, it is believed that one victim is still missing.
- Officials said in a statement that the confirmed death toll was 97.
The Miami-Dade County Fire and Rescue Department announced on Friday that it would stop searching for remains in the rubble of an apartment building in Florida that collapsed on June 24, killing at least 97 people.
The authorities stated that it is believed that one victim is still missing. Officials said in a statement that the Miami-Dade Police Department will continue to screen the remaining parts of the wreckage pile for additional remains and personal belongings.
The fire department operates around the clock on the waterfront site of the Champlain Towers South apartment in Surfside, a suburb of Miami, where residents fall asleep at approximately 01:30 in this 40-year-old 12-story building.
The Mayor of Miami-Dade, Daniella Levine Cava, said: “At this step in the recovery process, identifying victims becomes more and more challenging. We rely heavily on the work of the forensic office and identifying The scientific and technological process of human remains.” In a statement.
She praised the members of the search and rescue team as “real superheroes.”
No one has been rescued from the piles of powdery concrete, broken wood, and twisted metal in the hours since the collapse, and the authorities formally gave up hope of finding any survivors on July 7.
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County officials said in a statement that the confirmed death toll ranges from 97 to 96 victims. Their remains were found from the wreckage. One victim died during hospitalization.
The statement said: “We believe that there is still one victim missing.” It is not clear whether the person’s body has not been found, or whether a positive identification has not yet been conducted.
Investigators have not yet determined what caused about half of the 136-unit high-rise building to collapse in one of the deadliest building collapses in U.S. history. About 10 days later, part of the structure was still standing but unstable and was deliberately demolished.
A 2018 engineering report found structural flaws that are now the focus of several investigations, including a grand jury investigation.
The disaster prompted South Florida officials to study whether there are signs of poor construction or structural weakness in residential buildings.
At the ceremony marking the end of the fire department’s role in the search, members of the rescue team took emergency vehicles across the causeway and crossed Biscayne Bay into Miami, and were welcomed by the fireboat’s water cannon salute.
“Close the home is the ultimate test for everyone here,” said Scott Dean, the head of one of the two working groups working on a 12-hour shift at the disaster site, at the welcome home party held at the Fire and Rescue Headquarters.
Fire Chief Alan Kominsky said: “I am extremely proud of the men and women representing the Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue Team.”
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