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As the remaining rubble from the collapse of a 12-story oceanfront condominium was cleared on Wednesday, a Florida judge said victims and families who suffered losses will initially receive a minimum of $ 150 million. compensation dollars.
That includes about $ 50 million in insurance on the Champlain Towers South building and at least $ 100 million in proceeds from the sale of the Surfside property where the structure once stood, Miami-Dade circuit judge Michael said. Hanzman at a hearing.
“The court’s concern has always been the victims here,” the judge said, adding that the group includes visitors and tenants, not just condo owners. “Their rights will be protected.”
The $ 150 million does not include any proceeds from the many lawsuits already filed since the June 24 collapse, which killed at least 97 people. These lawsuits are consolidated into a single class action suit that would cover all victims and their family members if they so choose, the judge said.
“I have no doubt no stone will be overlooked,” Hanzman said of the lawsuits.
So far 97 victims have been identified, many of them using DNA testing. Miami-Dade officials said Wednesday night they believed they had two more victims to identify, but the name of another person was leaked later today, meaning there may not be any. -be one more.
Authorities have yet to announce the end of the recovery effort.
During this time, the site of the tragedy has been largely cleaned up and the debris has been moved to an evidence collection site near the airport where a thorough search will continue “with considerable care and diligence,” he said. said Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
She spoke of the difficulties of the research in a statement Wednesday.
“The enormous pressure from the weight of the collapse and the passage of time also makes it more difficult,” she said, noting that workers always carefully raked the rubble for the remaining victims as well as personal belongings and religious artifacts.
Police said on Wednesday that Anastasia Gromova, 24, and Linda March, 58, had been identified.
Gromova, a Canadian from Montreal, had just been accepted into an English language teaching program in Japan and was visiting the condo for a final hurray with her friend Michelle Pazos. Gromova’s body was found three days ago and has been one of the last to be identified.
Her grieving family rushed from Canada after the collapse and had spent weeks in agony waiting in Miami.
“It makes it real and difficult, but on a different level. At least we can move on now, ”her sister Anna Gromova told The Associated Press, describing her sister as a bright star that was falling quickly. “We will remember her forever.”
Her parents said she was bright, always active, constantly smiling, and unafraid to take on tough challenges.
“It’s difficult because you knew the loss was preventable and nothing was prevented,” her sister said.
March’s body was found on July 5, police said. Earlier this year, the successful lawyer rented out the furnished penthouse where images of white bunk beds hanging precariously near the veiled building made national headlines.
March, described as an outgoing person, had lost her parents and sister over the past decade, got divorced and was looking for a new start in Miami, friends said.
The rubble that will be key evidence is being stored in a warehouse in the Miami area, with the rest in vacant lots nearby, receiver attorney Michael Goldberg said. All of this will be kept as possible evidence for prosecution and for other experts to review, he said.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is leading a federal investigation into the collapse, according to a financial receiver on behalf of the condominium board.
“It may take years for their report to become public,” Goldberg said of the NIST probe.
The building had just undergone its 40-year recertification process when it collapsed. This came three years after an engineer warned of serious structural issues requiring immediate attention. Most of the concrete repairs and other work had not yet started.
There are still differences of opinion among condo owners on what to do with the site. Some want the whole condo to be rebuilt so they can go back. Others say it should be left as a memorial to honor those who have died. A third suggestion is to combine the two.
Owner Raysa Rodriguez, whose unit is on the ninth floor, said she couldn’t imagine returning to an apartment building in a place where so many friends have died.
“Personally, I would never set foot in a building. It’s a burial place, ”Rodriguez told the judge. “I wake up in the middle of the night thinking of all those who have perished.”
Oren Cytrynbaum, an attorney who unofficially represents other co-owners, said it was important to think creatively about selling the property, including whether any requirements could be added, such as some kind of memorial for the owners. future developers.
“It shouldn’t be a traditional land sale,” Cytrynbaum said. “We are not on a path.”
Hanzman, however, said time is running out because victims and families need the money to start rebuilding their lives.
“This is not a case where we have time to let the grass grow underneath,” he said.
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Associated Press editor Kelli Kennedy contributed to this report from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
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