07/04/2021 16:00
Clarín.com
World
Updated 07/04/2021 16:00
Demolition crews prepared Sunday
to demolish the remainder of the
partially collapsed
apartment building
in Miami, ahead of a storm that has raised concerns that the structure is collapsing dangerously.
Authorities suspended search and rescue operations on Saturday for crews to begin the precarious task of
drilling holes for explosives
in the concrete of the remaining standing structure of the Champlain Towers South building.
The operation carries risks, but
authorities said it was unavoidable
.
Tropical Storm Elsa is looming from the Caribbean and is forecast to hit Florida on Tuesday morning.
The confirmed death toll
is 24
, but the whereabouts of 121 people are still unknown.
The Miami-Dade Police Department added
Graciela Cattarossi, 48, and Gonzalo Torre, 81
, to the list of confirmed deaths
Saturday night
.
A crane works on the collapsed building in Miami.
AFP photo
Miami-Dade Fire Department Deputy Chief Raide Jadallah told the victims' families that it was necessary to end the search operation for safety measures, because the works could cause the collapse of the structure.
If that happens, he said,
"it's just going to collapse without warning."
The problems
In a video broadcast of Jadallah's remarks to the families of the missing, a woman was heard saying that it
was "devastating" that the search was suspended
. The woman asked if rescuers could at least work around the perimeter of the site to not "stopping the operation for so many painful hours."
With Tropical Storm Elsa threatening the Caribbean and forecast for it to hit the state in the next few days, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the Surfside building
is "unstable" and "structurally weak"
so the demolition it is the most prudent thing to do.
"If the building is torn down,
this will protect our search
and rescue
teams
, since we do not know when it might collapse," DeSantis said at a news conference Saturday morning.
Fears of a spontaneous collapse in advance had made the search difficult in sectors near that section and the movements detected on Thursday morning
forced the search to be suspended for 15 hours.
Jadallah explained that
the remains of the demolished building will be removed immediately
so that rescuers have access for the first time to the sector of the parking lot, which is one of the centers of the search.
This could provide a clearer view of possible gaps in the rubble where there may be survivors.
There have been no rescues of people alive
since the first hours after the June 24 landslide.
An audit conducted after the Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside determined that the 156-home Crestview Towers located in North Miami Beach, some five miles (eight kilometers) away,
had been declared unsafe in structure
and electrical installation. in January, the municipal government reported in a statement.
On Friday afternoon, authorities cordoned off the area and went door to door warning residents that they had to abandon the structure erected 49 years ago.
It is the first building evacuated since municipal authorities in South Florida and across the state began reviewing other older skyscrapers after the Surfside incident,
to ensure that major structural issues are not ignored.
Source: AP
PB
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