Miami collapse: toll of residential building collapse stands at 96

Rescuers who continue to work under the rubble of the collapsed Champlain Towers residential complex in Surfside, Miami-Dade County (Florida), They found the body of one person and the death toll rose to 96, authorities said on Wednesday.

The last death was identified as Luis F. Barth Tobar, 51, whose body was pulled from the rubble last Saturday but was identified today, Miami-Dade police said.

“We have identified another victim who unfortunately lost his life unexpectedly in the tragic collapse of the Surfside building. Please keep your family and loved ones in your prayers. “police said on his Twitter account.

The number of people not located after the collapse on June 24 for reasons not yet determined stood at 14 until Tuesday, but there are two that it is not known for sure if they were in the building when it collapsed.

This Tuesday the mayor of Miami-Dade, Daniella Levine Cava, noted that 85 of the 95 bodies found had been identified, not counting today’s identification.

Among the victims, in addition to Americans, there are Argentines, Cubans, Uruguayans, Colombians, Chileans, Venezuelans, Paraguayans and Israelis, among other nationalities.

Levine Cava warned that identification tasks are in progress more complicated for the time since the tragedy and how it affects human remains.

The investigation into the causes of the collapse of the northeast wing of the Tours Champlain Sud building, in which 55 apartments were located, has already started, but authorities anticipated that it will be long and complex.

Before the courts, there are half a dozen lawsuits filed against the syndicate of co-ownership, It had been having structural problems since at least 2018, according to an engineering firm.

What remained of the building was demolished on July 4, because the structure was unstable and made research tasks difficult.

Now we are studying what to do with the land when the operation, in which hundreds of rescuers participated who worked tirelessly and in bad weather, please wrap up.

The Mayor of Surfside, Charles Burkett, said this week that they are studying the use of the site and consulting with the families of the victims to find out what they want, as it is kind of a “Sacred place”.

As the rescue efforts continue, discussions are already underway for erect a commemorative monument on the land occupied by the property.

“We have all been discussing what could or should happen to this location” at the end of the debris removal operations and ongoing legal proceedings, Levine Cava said on Tuesday. “We started to talk about the fact that we really need a monument. We must have some kind of memorial “, He said.

The exact location of this monument should be determined whether it will cover all or only part of it, added the official.

An online petition on the web Switch.organization had collected more than 1,200 signatures on Tuesday so that the perimeter of the collapsed building “Become a monument”, believing that the accident “caused many deaths and that each dead and missing person must be remembered”.

But some locals want a new building in this area, said Charles Burkett, the mayor of the small town of 6,000 people north of Miami.

(With information from EFE and AFP)

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