Ten days after a building collapsed in Florida, the death toll continues to grow.
Three bodies were found in the rubble of the building on Monday, bringing the death toll to 27, authorities said.
Research continues even if the chances of finding survivors are "close to zero," said an official.
Most of the building, named Champlain Towers South, collapsed in the middle of the night on June 24 in Surfside, one of the most serious urban disasters in US history. As Storm Elsa approached and the strong winds it could bring with it, the authorities had chosen to bring down what remained of the building, deemed too unstable. The controlled destruction took place late Sunday and went "exactly as planned," Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine said.
“From 1:00 am (5:00 am GMT), the searches had fully resumed” and they could be carried out in areas hitherto inaccessible, she added.
The bodies of three new victims have been found, the death toll now rising to 27 dead and 118 missing.
"The circumstances that we have seen are too difficult to say, in a professional way, that we think we have a good chance of finding someone alive," said Golan Vach, an expert who heads one of the Israeli research teams present on the site. square.
The still largely unexplained collapse
Only one survivor - a teenager - was extracted from the rubble in the early hours of relief operations.
No other survivor was found despite the mobilization of rescuers, who came from all over the United States, and even from Israel and Mexico.
Among the missing, dozens of Latin Americans from Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay, Chile and Uruguay.
The moment the Miami Tower partially collapsed (55 apartments out of 130), CCTV footage pic.twitter.com/7WwAVpkEem
- Philippe Berry (@ptiberry) June 24, 2021
The collapse still remains largely unexplained, although there are questions about the maintenance and structure of the building, construction work nearby and rising waters. A report as early as 2018 noted "major structural damage", as well as "cracks" in the basement of the building, according to documents released by the town of Surfside.
