No Other Condo Collapse Victims Found, Crews Face 'Incredible Difficulties'
By Jason Hall
June 26, 2021
No additional individuals have been found among the 159 unaccounted for in the the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South Condo in the Surfside town of Miami-Dade County as of Saturday (June 26).
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava provided an update on rescue efforts Saturday morning, noting that totals hadn't changed since Friday (June 25) and that rescue crews faced "incredible difficulties" due to an ongoing fire under the rubble.
"It's a very deep fire. It's extremely difficult to locate the source of the fire. So, they've been working around the clock, these fire rescue teams, these brave men and women, under the rubble to fix this problem so they can get on, but it is hampering our search efforts," Levine Cava said during a news conference via CNN.
Cava said the smoke from the fire "spread laterally throughout the pile," which made it difficult for crews to isolate the source and contain it.
"Obviously, the smoke itself is the biggest barrier right now to proceeding in those areas. So, we created a trench using heavy equipment to try to isolate the fire and continue searching for victims in the part of the pile that we can access. No further victims have been found," Levine Cava added.
On Friday, Mayor Levine Cava confirmed four people had died and a total of 159 individuals were unaccounted for in relation to the partial collapse of the 12-story Surfside condominium in the Surfside town of Miami-Dade County.
The bodies of three more victims were located at the site, bringing the death toll to four, after it was initially reported that one person was confirmed to have died in the collapse on Thursday (June 24).
Mayor Levine Cava also confirmed a total of 120 individuals have been accounted for in relation to the collapse, with all the totals remaining the same on Saturday.
"We will continue search and rescue because we still have hope that we will find people alive," Mayor Levine Cava said on Friday.
Officials told NBC Miami that residents were being moved to the Surfside Community Center and all streets in the area of the collapse were closed.
The Champlain Towers South Condos are located at 8777 Collins Avenue and were built in 1981.