Rescue efforts in search of survivors of the collapse of the Surfside building, north of Miami,
were suspended
in the early hours of this Thursday for fear that the remaining structure would collapse, according to the Miami Herald newspaper and later confirmed to Telemundo News a rescue worker.
The halt in the work occurred hours before the president, Joe Biden, arrived in the area one week after the tragedy, which has so far left 18 dead and more than 140 missing.
However, local authorities have repeated that the presidential visit had nothing to do with their decision.
[
"Oh my God! The building is gone !: the chilling voice memo a woman sent as soon as her Surfside building collapsed
]
The chief of the Miami-Dade Fire Department, Alan Cominsky, explained in a press conference that at 02:11 am (local time on the East Coast) alarms were activated warning of movements in the work zones.
Specifically, an expansion of between 6 to 12 inches was detected in a column located in the parking area, as well as movements in a concrete plate and in the back of the residential complex that is still standing.
This instability forced operations to stop because the priority is "to protect the safety of first responders," said Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
A group of engineers are evaluating the terrain and analyzing the options that exist to resume the search for survivors.
"The operation will resume as soon as possible," promised the mayor.
Cominsky also revealed that noises were heard in the first moments of the rescue that seemed to correspond to a woman's voice.
After a few hours digging in the direction from which it came, the workers stopped hearing it and presumed that the person died.
Surfside crash survivors say "God sent them signs all day"
June 30, 202102: 19
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis reported that the work done so far has removed nearly 1,400 tons of debris.
He also affirmed that the authorities are very aware of the tropical storm Elsa, which formed last night in the Atlantic Ocean and is moving towards the Caribbean.
"We do not expect it to have a direct impact" in Miami in the coming days, but the operational command of the rescue work is pending before any change that may affect the search, he explained.
Presidential visit
Biden, who is traveling with his wife, held a briefing with the local authorities, who informed him of where the jobs are, and later met with representatives of the emergency teams who work day and night.
"We understand that what you are doing is psychologically tough," he told them.
"I assure you that we are aware that what they do is incredible," he stressed.
Rescue teams in partially collapsed building in Surfside, Wednesday, June 30.
Biden will also meet several hours with the families of the victims of the tragedy, who are awaiting news of their loved ones.
Authorities continue to investigate what triggered the 12 stories of Champlain Towers South to sink in the early morning of June 24, forming a thick mound of debris more than 30 feet high.
In recent days, several documents have come to light denouncing the damaged structure of the building: the report made by an engineer in 2018 on the deteriorated architecture;
a 2020 Florida university study stating that the condo had been sinking since 1990;
and the letter that the president of the neighborhood association sent to residents in April, warning that the damage detected three years ago had "significantly worsened."
New tunnels
Before stopping the search, emergency teams had managed to find new tunnels under the ruins, which allowed finding new fatalities.
Among the bodies located there are two sisters aged 4 and 10.
The names of the victims found on Wednesday are the sisters Lucía Guara, 4 years old and Emma Guara, 10 years old;
Anaely Rodríguez, 42 years old and Andreas Giannitsopoulos, 21 years old.
"Every loss of life is something tragic, but
the loss of children is something terrible
. We share the pain of these families," said the mayor of Miami-Dade Wednesday afternoon.
County Sheriff's Director Freddy Ramirez said he hopes Biden's visit will be a moral injection for the entire community.
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The state fire chief, Jimmy Patronis, said that he hopes to convey to the president the
need to offer psychological help
to rescue teams for the possible post-traumatic stress they may suffer.
"We want to make sure that when they finally come home, we give them the strength to be able to go back to work without fear of nightmares and challenges," he added.