Three other victims have been exhumed from the rubble in Surfside, bringing the death toll to 27, while 115 others are still missing, more than two weeks after the collapse of the 12-storey apartment building.
Rescue crews resumed search of the rubble on Monday, after specialized teams activated a series of controlled explosions Sunday night to knock down a part of the building that had not collapsed and posed a danger to those working in the area.
Miami Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told the Associated Press news agency that “the demolition went exactly as planned.”
Shortly after the blasts on Sunday, crews removed some of the bulk of the collapsed structure in order to enable work without delay to exhume the bodies of the victims Monday.
The demolition of the remaining part of the building became necessary as Tropical Storm Elsa is approaching which threatens to hit the southern part of Florida where the collapsed complex is located.
The tragic event at Champlain South Tower prompted inspections and analysis of the structure of several buildings in the area and resulted in the evacuation of another residential complex where engineering crews had dictated safety problems.
