This archive report was first published on 15 July 2021.
On June 24, 2021, the 13-story Champlain Towers South condo building in Miami's Surfside neighborhood collapsed, sending shockwaves through the community. The devastating event would go down in history as one of the deadliest structural collapses in the United States.
As the building crumbled, residents and visitors frantically called 911, seeking help and desperate to be reunited with loved ones. The calls, released on July 7, 2021, provide a harrowing glimpse into the chaos and fear that gripped the scene.
One caller, Louis Tinoco from Unit 505, pleaded with the dispatcher to repeat herself, her words drowned out by the cacophony of chaos. 'There are people yelling, saying they're stuck,' he said. 'They keep yelling.'
Another caller, a woman reporting that her sister was inside, told the dispatcher, 'Half of the building is not there anymore. They're alive, but they can't get out.'
Rescuers faced a perilous obstacle course of falling debris and cutoff passageways as they searched for survivors. Despite their efforts, no one else was found alive after the initial rescue of a 15-year-old boy.
