07/01/2021 2:16 PM
Clarín.com
International
USA
Updated 07/01/2021 2:16 PM
The tragedy of the building that collapsed in Miami brings new dramatic chapters hour after hour.
Now, while rescue efforts were slowed by the dangers of more landslides, a video was released showing a torrent of water falling into the parking lot of the Champlains Towers building.
Yesterday the desperate call of the
first rescue firefighter who arrived at the scene
of the tragedy was known, who in a complete state of shock describes what he saw before his eyes, comparing it to 9/11.
Now, the new video was recorded by a couple
, Adriana Sarmiento and Roberto Castillero
, who filmed the images at
dawn on June 24
.
One of the videos, taken after they both heard a loud bang, shows how water and concrete debris fall.
It was minutes before the collapse.
Rescue work was momentarily paralyzed due to the danger of more collapses in the Champlain Towers building in Miami.
Photo: AP
Sarmiento said that both of them, who were staying in a hotel near the Champlain Towers, went out to the street, trying to
signal for residents to evacuate the condo,
but they could not understand her.
They both barely remember flashes of what happened next.
"
Dust, and then glass, rock, and then I started running for my life
," Castillero said, according to
CNN
.
Where are the people on the balcony? He wondered.
"I did not realize that the balcony was no longer there," he added.
Flowers and photos of the disappeared in the memorial installed in the area of the tragedy.
Photo: AFP
The
death toll rose to 18
after the discovery of six bodies under the rubble in the last hours.
The call of the first firefighter and 9/11
On Wednesday the desperate call of the first firefighter who came to rescue people from the building located on
Calle 88 and Av. Collins was also known
.
His words are eloquent: “I see a lot of people on their balconies.
The building fell
.
There are no elevators, ”described the first official to arrive at the disaster site.
"
It looks like the World Trade Center,
" he added.
"Some people are evacuating, they
say it sounded like a bomb,
" said the rescuer.
The building needed repairs for US $ 9 million
After the tragedy, one of the first information that emerged was the marked deterioration of the Champlain Towers, to the point that it was confirmed that it needed repairs and works
worth more than nine million dollars,
including 3.8 million just for the garage and the swimming pool, precisely the place of the condominium that today is pointed out as the trigger for the collapse.
That's one of the new revelations
contained in a 2018 report, which highlighted that the building had structural damage.
Almost three years before the Champlain Towers waterfront condo near Miami collapsed, an engineering firm estimated that the major repairs the building needed would cost more than $ 9 million, according to recently released emails.
The email from the firm
Morabito Consultants
was part of a series of documents published by the city of Surfside (Miami-Dade County) as rescue efforts continued at the site of the collapsed building, among rubble,
where 16 people have already died and there are more than 140 missing.
The 2018 cost estimate release followed the earlier release of another company document showing that the building's ground floor pool deck rested on a concrete slab that had
"significant structural damage"
and was in need of a comprehensive repair.
Structural damage
That report also found
"abundant cracks and chipping"
of concrete
columns, beams
and walls in the parking lot.
The report did not warn of the imminent danger of the damage and it is unclear if any of the observed damage was responsible for the Champlain Towers South collapse, but it is being investigated.
An aerial view of the collapsed building.
Reuters photo
The cost estimate showed that repairs to the entire building
would cost more than $ 9.1 million
, and the cost of work on the garage, driveway and pool deck would be more than $ 3.8 million.
The work was not finished when the building collapsed.
The previous report said that
the waterproofing under the pool deck had failed
and was incorrectly laid flat rather than sloped, preventing water from running off.
Rescuers search the pile of rubble for survivors.
AFP photo
"Failed waterproofing is causing significant structural damage
to the concrete structural slab below these areas," the report says.
If "the waterproofing is not replaced in the near future, the extent of deterioration of the concrete will expand exponentially", limits the report released today.
The firm recommended that the damaged slabs be replaced in what would be a major repair. Some of the concrete damage in the parking lot was minor, while other columns
had exposed and deteriorated rebar
. He also noted that many of the building's previous attempts to repair columns and other damage with epoxy (a special resin) were marred by poor workmanship and were failing Under the pool deck "where the slab had been injected. With epoxy, new cracks were radiated from the originally repaired cracks, "the report says.
These were all problems that should have been resolved quickly
, Gregg Schlesinger, a construction defect attorney and former construction project engineer, was quoted as saying by local press.
Rescuers continue to work around the clock searching for survivors.
Photo: AP:
"The building speaks to us. It tells us we have a serious problem," said Schlesinger. "They (for building managers, NDR)
kicked the can down the road.
The maintenance was inadequate. These were all red flags that needed to be addressed and not it was done, "he said.
In a statement, Morabito Consultants confirmed that its report "detailed
significant cracks and breaks in the concrete
, requiring repairs to ensure the safety of residents and the public." The firm said it was hired again in June 2020 by Champlain Towers South to begin the 40-year recertification process that would detail what work needed to be done.
Look also
Landslide in Miami: the death toll was raised to 9 and 3 other fatalities were identified
Collapse in Miami: the story of the other two disappeared Argentines