The collapse of a 12-storey beachfront condo in Surfside, Florida, shocked residents of nearby towers in Miami-Dade County and throughout the US.
More than 150 residents are still missing in the wreckage following Thursday’s incident. Eleven people have been confirmed dead.
Images taken from the air reveal the full scale of the collapse, which President Joe Biden called an “enduring tragedy” for the community of Surfside.
Officials confirmed that 55 units in Champlain Towers South were destroyed, and that it was “substantially full” when the incident occurred.
A friend of Linda March, who died on Thursday, told reporters she was devastated to see a desk chair belonging to the Champlain Towers resident in images of the wreckage.
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Belongings hang from mid-air in other images, showing air conditioning units and household furniture hanging from the partially collapsed building.
A pile of rubble at the base of Champlain Towers South, where round-the-clock rescue efforts have been concentrated, also indicate what could have caused the incident.
According to structural engineers, the building appeared to fold-in on itself, and fell in stages – suggesting a structural failure at the bottom of the 12-storey condo.
A contractor also revealed that he witnessed cracks around the pool area and water in the basement of the structure, which had already been surveyed for “major structural damage” and was days or weeks away from repairs.
Construction had already started on the roof of the building.
It remains to be seen what caused the collapse of the beachfront building, with search and rescue efforts still to conclude, before any official instigation.
Audits of similar buildings in the area are also ongoing.
