Hopes of finding Surfside survivors dashed as recovery mission begins

Jul 07, 2021

Ben Burke Producer

By Ben Burke (Producer)

Just under two weeks after a condo collapsed in Surfside, Florida, emergency workers said Wednesday they are shifting from a search and rescue mission to a recovery mission. The move all but ends the hope of finding any more survivors.

No one has been pulled out alive since the first hours after the Champlain Towers South building fell.

Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah told families at a private briefing, crews would remove the rescue dogs and sound devices. However, crews would still search through the rubble for bodies. “Our sole responsibility at this point is to bring closure,” Jadallah said.

For the last two weeks, officials focused on finding survivors. Hope rekindled after workers demolished the remainder of the building. This allowed rescuers access to new areas of the huge debris pile. The hope was crews might find “voids,” or open pockets in the rubble where someone could have survived.

Some of those voids did exist, mostly in the basement and the parking garage. But instead of finding survivors there, crews recovered more than a dozen additional victims.

Families have slowly begun bracing themselves for the news their relatives did not survive.

“For some, what they’re telling us it’s almost a sense of relief when they already know (that someone has died) and they can just start to put an end to that chapter and start to move on,” Miami-Dade Fire Rescue firefighter and paramedic Maggie Castro said. She has been updating families daily at private briefings.

Because the building fell in the overnight hours, many victims were found in their beds. The death toll as of Wednesday was 54, with 86 people unaccounted for.

Rescue workers suspended their mission twice: once because of the instability of the remaining part of the building and once for the demolition.

Authorities are launching a grand jury investigation into the collapse. At least six lawsuits have been filed by Champlain Towers families.

Mother Adela Galindo, The Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary: “The power of prayer transcends everything, and that’s what we believe. We’re coming to pray for the souls of those who have been deceased, for those who have not been found to be found so people – the family can give a worthy funeral and closure.”

Ernesto Rosatti, Resident of Surfside:

“I have eight friends – I lose eight friends in to all the victims from the collapse. Eight persons. I am telling you that when I stop by here, I feel like – like a lot of feeling we know encounters: angst, stress, desperation, people crying. It’s a lot of feelings.”

Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, (D) Miami-Dade County:

“It is with deep, profound sadness that this afternoon I’m able to share that we made the extremely difficult decision to transition from operation search and rescue to recovery. It’s now been exactly two weeks since Champlain Tower South collapsed and over the last 14 days, you all know that our search and rescue teams from our local community, from around Florida, from around the country and in fact around the world have been digging through this collapse. They’ve used every possible strategy and every piece of technology available to them. And through these efforts, we have recovered eight more victims, so the total number of confirmed deaths is now at 54. Thirty three of those victims have been identified and 33 next of kin notifications have been made. At this time 200 people have been accounted for, and 86 people are potentially unaccounted for. “To share this news with the families this evening who are still missing their loved ones was devastating. And it’s also difficult to share with all of you. So many who’ve been watching around the world who’ve joined their prayers to ours, who held out hope, as we have hoped in our hearts. And in quiet moments for a miracle, we have all asked God for a miracle.”

Mayor Charles Burkett, Surfside, Florida: “Today’s news is extremely tough for all of our search and rescue professionals, all of our support staff and especially me. We’ve all worked passionately day and night for two weeks to save lives. and while there seems to be no chance of finding life in the rubble, a miracle is still possible.”