Condo collapse: Surfside victims will not be asked to donate their real estate for public good, judge says

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“These victims who have lost their homes, their belongings and, in many cases, their lives are not going to sacrifice the value of their property for the public good,” said Michael Hanzman, judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. civil lawsuits.

Hanzman said during a status hearing on Wednesday that he had heard comments suggesting that the site of the collapse should be turned into a memorial and that victims should donate their real estate. But, he said, his job is to make sure victims get what they are entitled to.

“Regardless of the opinion of some people who are not victims, the job of this tribunal and your job is to compensate the victims of this tragedy, period,” Hanzman told lawyers at the hearing.

Part of the South Champlain Towers collapsed in the wee hours of June 24, while many residents were sleeping. Some locals described the terror of feeling the rumble and seeing the cracks in the walls. Others did not make it.

In the weeks that followed, more than 22 million pounds of debris were removed and 97 bodies were recovered.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman listens to tenants share their thoughts on the future of the collapsed Champlain Towers South building site in Surfside.

97th victim identified

According to an update Wednesday from Miami-Dade County, all 97 victims have been identified, including 96 who were recovered from the site of the collapse and one victim died in hospital.

“First responders are now carrying out additional searches for the debris at the collection site, as we continue to do everything possible to search for the remains as thoroughly as possible in order to shut down families,” said the Miam County mayor. Dade, Daniella Levine Cava. in a report.

“We continue to look very carefully and diligently and work closely hand in hand with religious leaders as we have done since the beginning of this process,” she added.

97 victims of the Surfside condo collapse have been identified. Authorities believe there is another unidentified victim

The 97th victim has been identified as Linda March, 58. The county said it believed there was still one unidentified victim.

March had left New York and rented a penthouse in the building in March, just three months before the collapse, her friend Cindy Hinton told CNN.

“Linda saw the photos. She absolutely fell in love with them,” Hinton said. “It was the penthouse level. It had balconies, it had a view of the water. And it was, you know, a building that had everything she wanted. So she was really, really. excited to move there. “

Images of his house haunted the aftermath of the collapse, as the wall peeled off to show bunk beds wobbling from the edge of the top floor.

After the collapse, Hinton compared the return address on the birthday card Linda had recently sent him to the building address plastered on the news.

Her heart sank when they matched, she said. “We just didn’t know what to do. We’re like, we felt so helpless,” Hinton said.

Investigations wait to intensify

Once the research is officially completed, an investigation into the causes of the collapse can begin, experts said.

“Until they do their job, we cannot come in to take material samples and take those samples and test them to understand what the different components of the building that collapsed were,” the engineer said. in structure Allyn Kilsheimer to Ana Cabrera of CNN.

Surfside condo building collapse investigation will not begin until site remains a crime scene, expert says

The first night he was at the scene, Kilsheimer, who also investigated the aftermath of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon, said he had about 20 or 30 theories of possible triggers.

He has since eliminated some but added five or six more, he said, but will not be able to reduce it while research continues.

Florida State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle acknowledged “multiple requests from engineers and lawyers” to access the site.

“Engineers from the federal agency National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) were deployed to Surfside with the authority of Congress to gather evidence and determine how and why the South Champlain Tower collapsed. NIST is the investigative agency responsible for investigating building collapses such as the World Trade Center, just as the NTSB investigates plane crashes, “Rundle said in a statement.

“I understand that once NIST, Miami-Dade Fire Department, and Miami-Dade Police Department determine that it is safe and appropriate for others to access the site, they will be permitted to do so in accordance with guidelines established by these agencies, ”said Rundle.

CNN’s Randi Kaye, Travis Caldwell, Rosa Flores, Rebekah Riess, Leyla Santiago, Claudia Dominguez, and Tina Burnside contributed to this report.

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