Miami landslide: families of victims to receive at least $ 150 million in compensation

The victims and relatives of the 97 killed by the collapse of a residential building in Surfside, South Florida, will initially receive $ 150 million in compensationa Miami judge reported Wednesday.

Judge Michael Hanzman noted in a hearing that the amount will come from the insurance disbursement of Tours Champlain Sud and the foreseeable sale of the land where the 12-story condominium was erected, which collapsed at dawn on June 24 for causes that are still under federal investigation.

Hanzman, who stressed that the rights of victims will be protected, clarified that figure does not include results of multiple class actions filed after the event in which 97 people died, 95 of them identified by local authorities.

If the victims and their relatives so wish, all these complaints can be grouped into one request collective that covers all those concerned, said the judge.

That same Wednesday, several South Florida media realized that the site where until recently there was a mountain of rubble and rescue teams were working is now virtually clean and unobstructed and, in fact, State Senator Jason Pizzo posted photos of the area on his Twitter account.

Attorney Michael Goldberg, appointed by Hanzman to handle the finances of the condominium built in 1981, confirmed at today’s hearing that the area is free of debris, in a process overseen by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NITS), the agency leading the federal investigation into the collapse.

Added that the remains of the building were stored in a Miami warehouse which was considered key evidence for the NITS investigation, the final report of which can take years, as well as for legal proceedings.

According to the authorities, some 10,000 tons rubble from the collapsed building.

The South Champlain Towers were in the midst of a process of recertification -a study of structures and electricity required by law because it is a 40-year-old building- when it collapses in the middle of the night and when its occupants are sleeping.

Three years earlier, a report from an engineering company warned against serious structural problems in the building which deserved urgent attention.

They debate the future of the earth

The court hearing also served victims, relatives and owners of some of the over 130 apartments which housed the condominium expressed their views on what to do on the land valued at around $ 100 million.

While some want a new condominium to be built on the site that can be re-inhabited, others disagree and, on the contrary, they proposed that a memorial be built on the site.

Some have noted that the two options are compatible and that on the ground, by the sea, a new residential building which at the same time include a memorial in honor of the victims and those affected.

“Many people think they would like to find their home“Oren Cytrynbaum told the audience.

This owner of an apartment at the Tours Champlain Sud stressed that today for many it would be an “impossible mission” to return to have a property like the one they had in the condominium, “given the prices of the houses, especially properties facing the sea. “.

The magistrate stressed that all options must be taken into account, but without letting time pass considering that the victims need monetary compensation to rebuild their lives.

Among the victims of the event, besides Americans, there are Argentines, cuban, Uruguayans, Colombians, Chilean, Venezuelans, Paraguayans e israelis, among other nationalities.

The last body identified corresponds to Therese Velasquez, 36, whose body was extracted from the rubble on July 8.

(With information from EFE)

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