This archive report was first published on 8 July 2021.
Florida officials have made the difficult decision to end search efforts at the Champlain Towers South condominium site in Surfside, Florida, after two weeks of searching for victims.
The decision was made after assessing that no survivors would be found, and officials have shifted their focus to recovery efforts.
According to officials, 54 people have been confirmed dead, with 33 of those victims identified and 33 next-of-kin notifications made.
Rescue teams from around the world, including Florida, Texas, Israel, and Mexico, had been working tirelessly to find survivors, but the prospect of finding anyone alive grew increasingly unlikely.
Assistant Chief Ray Jadallah of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue told families in a private briefing that 'just based on the facts, there's zero chance of survival.'
Eighty-six people are still classified as missing, and it could take months for investigators to determine precisely why a significant portion of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, collapsed without warning last month.
Engineers have found damaged columns at the building's base, which may have less steel reinforcement than was originally planned, but it is unlikely to be the primary cause of the collapse.
Florida has some of the country's strictest regulations on high-rise buildings, but the rules are not always enforced, and compliance sometimes takes years longer than required.
The condo board at the Champlain Towers South had struggled to convince homeowners to pay special assessments of up to $200,000 to begin major renovation projects, which may have contributed to the delay in maintenance.
Three years before the collapse, a consultant found evidence of 'major structural damage' to the concrete slab below the pool deck and 'abundant' cracking and crumbling of the columns, beams, and walls of the parking garage.
