Recovery efforts of Florida building collapse victims could stop soon
The recovery efforts for victims of the devastating collapse of a Surfside, Florida condo building last month could soon end.
Several people connected to the site of Champlain Towers South are still classified as either missing or “potentially unaccounted for,” with Miami-Dade County stating late Thursday that identifying victims has become increasingly challenging, The Associated Press reports.
The identification of six more victims Thursday means that 92 people have been identified of the 97 confirmed dead in the tragedy.
The county said Thursday that the medical examiner’s office as well as expert technical and scientific work have helped in large part when identifying the victims.
There were several earlier warnings of significant structural damage to the 40-year-old oceanfront building. An official cause for the collapse, which happened around 1:20 a.m. on June 24, has not yet been identified.
Court records note that the sale of the property was approved by a judge Wednesday, for which proceeds — which could be in the $100 million to $110 million range — are meant to benefit victims of the collapse.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman also approved the return of $2.4 million deposits made by some of the building’s condo owners who had contributed toward an assessment to fund $15 million in planned major repairs.
The collapse has forced many cities to reevaluate their structures, concerns for which have already seen two Miami-Dade high-rises evacauted.
Officials said that a three-story apartment building in the county was evacuated Thursday after the partial collapse of a roof.
With News Wire Services
