The search for possible victims of the collapsed apartment complex in the American Surfside continues, while the hope of finding survivors shrinks. The building partially collapsed in the night from Wednesday to Thursday last week. Eleven bodies have been recovered, and 150 people are still missing.
It is not clear whether all the missing persons were in the building. The twelve-storey complex had 156 homes, part of which was not permanently inhabited.
The search for victims is ongoing day and night. Dogs and infrared scanners are used in rescue operations. Hollow spaces have been observed deep in the rubble, but it is not clear whether there are survivors there.
It is not yet clear what caused the building to collapse. However, it is known that construction engineers already prepared a report in 2008 in which they reported structural shortcomings. And in November 2018, residents of the Miami disaster flat were told that their building was safe. According to American media, this happened more than a month after an engineer warned that there was ‘major structural damage’ to the residential tower.
The owners’ association recently warned, in April, that the visible damage in the parking garage had worsened and also reported damage to the roof, US media reported. The repairs would have required $15 million.