Bodycam Footage Shows Moment Police Responded To Miami Condo Collapse
By Jason Hall
August 4, 2021
Newly released body camera footage shows the initial moments after the Miami-Dade County condominium collapse from the perspective of first responders.
The Miami Herald shared the unsettling footage on Tuesday (August 3), which shows thick dust, calls for help and first responders rushing into the rubble at the scene of the Champlain Towers South condominium collapse upon the arrival of police officers.
The video shows officers approaching individuals near the site of the collapse, which includes a security guard who said she works at the building telling police, "They've got to get out of there," while pointing at the condominium.
A total of 98 people were killed in the Champlain Towers South collapse in the Miami-Dade County town of Sunrise, Florida on June 24.
NBC News reports three officers captured a total of 45 minutes of footage during the initial response, which includes residents escaping the collapse and first responders attempting to gain control.
One clip includes a firefighter telling a police officer to "keep everybody out" before the officer quickly ushers away a bystander, who claimed to be the building president in the video.
Another clip shows a man on the street shouting to his mother, and a woman still inside an apartment can be heard yelling back. The man pleads with police to rescue the woman.
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said he received a copy of the video upon arriving at the scene at 2:00 a.m. on June 24 and “was scrambling and just didn't know what to do.”
“It’s just horrific, but it’s also inspiring,” Burkett said. “It’s horrific because you can hear people screaming ‘help get me out,’ but it’s inspiring to see our heroes climbing over that pile within minutes of the collapse even with the looming danger of that building falling down on top of them.”
The security guard who talked to officers earlier in the video later says she rushed to call 911 once she realized the collapse was happening and added, "I don't even know how I made it out."