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Firefighters ended their search for bodies at the site of a collapsed Florida condominium on Friday, after a month of painstaking work among dangerous debris that was once stacked on multiple floors.
At least one other missing person has not yet been identified, following the collapse of the 12-story Champlain South Towers in the early hours of June 24. If found, Estelle Hedaya, 54, would bring the death toll to 98.
“As we enter the second month alone, without any other family, we feel helpless,” her younger brother Ikey told The Associated Press on Friday.
The site was largely swept away and the rubble moved to a warehouse in Miami. Forensic scientists are still at work, some examining the warehouse debris, but there are no more bodies to be found where the building once stood.
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Miami-Dade Police Department officers reportedly continue to search “the debris pile for both human remains and personal items,” according to a statement from the office of Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
The decision to hand over the operation comes after search teams spent weeks battling the dangers of the rubble, including an unstable part of the building that teetered above.
Crews worked 12-hour shifts, digging tunnels under the structure of the parking lot and working through debris from above in search of survivors. The mission was officially transferred to a recovery operation on July 7, nearly two weeks after the disaster.
Recurring fires and the sweltering summer heat in Florida and thunderstorms also hampered the operation.
Except for the first hours after the collapse, the survivors never emerged.
“It’s obviously devastating. It is obviously a difficult situation at all levels, “said Miami-Dade Fire Chief Alan Cominsky at a ceremony marking the end of the operation.
Calling it “an unprecedented disaster,” in a statement, Levine Cava said in a statement that the fire crews “are real superheroes who have come together to serve this community.”
Stephanie Palmer, head of the Coral Springs search team, said she left the deployment on Friday with mixed emotions – including that they had not been able to track down everyone missing and their feelings for all. families affected by the tragedy.
“It’s very personal for us, and it will never go away,” she said. “Our hearts will always be with them.”
The Associated Press contributed.
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