A huge part of Champlain Towers, a 12 story residential building located on the seafront in the town of Surfside, north of Miami completely collapsed to the ground. The Miami building collapse catastrophe took place in the primary hours of the morning on Thursday, 24th June 2021.
The assistant chief of operations for Miami-Dade Fire rescue, Raide Jadallah said that the building comprised of 136 units, out of which 55 units in the Northeast gallery collapsed to the ground at around 1:30 am.
Time Span of the Miami Building Collapse tragedy
Reports have said that the building collapse took place in a matter of just 12 seconds. The incident as described by the people was akin to hearing a huge round of thunder before catching sight of a ginormous cloud of dust.
An individual even drew out similarities to the incident from the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York.
Miami Building Collapse in a matter of seconds
| Seconds count | Destruction Caused |
| 1 second | Beginning of the fall of the Central section |
| 4 seconds | Central section collapses completely to the ground |
| 9 seconds | The upper east section starts to fall |
| 12 seconds | The east section completely collapsed to the ground |
| 21 seconds | Destruction site completely immerged in humongous clouds of dust |
Before and after visuals of the Miami Building Collapse catastrophe
The picture below shows the extent of the havoc caused by the sudden Miami building collapse disaster on Thursday. The collapsed segments of the floors can be seen despite the overall dismantling of the building.
Casualties and damage caused due to the Miami Building Collapse
The Miami building collapse disaster took place while people residing in the building were asleep. The damaged furniture and goods belonging to the residents were distinctly visible from what remained of the building.
The families of the people trapped in the havoc desperately wait for news regarding the survival of their loved ones. After the disaster, 35 people were pulled out of the collapsed segment of the building and 2 people were pulled out of the wreckage on Thursday afternoon.
Daniella Levine Cava, the Miami-Dade County Mayor informed the reporters on Friday morning that there were a total of 120 people accounted for from the building and 159 people unaccounted for. She stated that as of now four people have lost their lives in the unfortunate event.
Amidst the disaster, 4 people were found dead, 11 were hurt and still dozens of people were nowhere to be found. As reported by the Miami-Dade police, atleast 10 people were treated for injuries right at the scene of disaster. Aventure Hospital and Medical Centre stated that they had received three patients out of which two were found to be in extremely critical states.
Apparent cause of the 40 year old Miami Building Collapse
The Champlain Towers South was built in 1981. The building was going through inspection for its 40 year recertification. Even though no accurate cause has been found which lead to the Miami building collapse wreckage, experts who were inspecting the land on which the building was perched upon reported that the establishment was sinking to the ground during the 1990’s.
A report from a research on the ground at the Florida International University discovered that the area around which the structure was established were wetlands and had been sinking at a pace of 2 mm per year since the last 30 years.
Nonetheless Professor Shimon Wdowniski, the author of the report stated that the sinking of the structure was not the sole reason for the Miami building collapse.
Rescue of the victims trapped in the Miami Building Collapse
After the Miami Building Collapse took place, continuous search for people trapped amidst the debris have been carried out by the rescuers. The rescuers are keeping their ears out not just for voices but any type of sound or movement in general.
The Miami-Dade Fire Rescue was present near the scene of destruction on 88th street and Collins Avenue with an involvement of more than 80 rescuers. They got into the scene and have been risking their lives in order to save and identify the people still trapped underneath the debris, since it is uncertain whether the rest of the building is going to stand still or fall down.
The salvaging process involved emergency workers going from one balcony to another with the help of a fire ladder, searching for victims who might be trapped inside.
Effective Measures involved in the search
- Usage of dog teams to search for people
- Sonar devices listening for movement or sounds beneath the debris
- Heavy machinery in order to lift the debris
The Red Cross team took no time in settling the residents in hotels, since looking for an accurate reason which lead to the Miami building collapse might demand an ample amount of time.
President Joe Biden’s statement regarding the Miami Building Collapse
The President of the United States, Joe Biden conversed with Mayor Daniella Levine Cava on Thursday and extended federal assistance and support.
Furthermore, in context to the Miami building collapse, he stated, “We have gotten in touch with FEMA and they are ready to go. I say to the people of Florida, whatever help you want the federal government to provide, we are waiting. Just ask us and we will be there.”
