"I was prepared for the whole building to come down," one survivor said. Fire-rescue logs obtained by the paper showed that search dogs found signs of life in the Champlain Towers South wreckage site multiple times in the hours after the 1:25 a.m. collapse. At approximately 1:20 a.m. on June 24, 2021, Champlain Towers South, a 12-story, 136-unit condo building at 8777 Collins Ave., Surfside . Alfredo and Marian Lopez were sound asleep around 1:30 a.m. Thursday when they heard the first boom, like a crash of thunder from a Florida . Did you encounter any technical issues? Its not like her, and its not like me, and when I woke up at 5:30, I understood why.. Like, you feel like an earthquake is happening right in front of you," he said. They are. NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with Susana Alvarez, who lived on the 10th floor of the building that collapsed in Surfside, Florida. I can only imagine how many people were in their apartments either sleeping or watching TV or just whatever, just living their lives. ALVAREZ: I can't imagine. It was like 'Titanic,'" she said. In the early morning hours of June 24, Sara, Gabe and Chani were home but all three had a reason to be awake later than usual. ", "It's a tremendous tragedy," he said, after taking a moment to collect himself. That was my home. Switchboard: (305) 751-6692 Without hesitation, I did exactly what she told me. Susana, I want to ask you, first of all, how are you doing? So far, one person is confirmed dead, 11 are injured and 99 people . Sharon Schechter, 60, described her escape to WPLG, saying she believes she was only one of two people who survived from her floor when the 12-story oceanfront Champlain Towers South near Miami partially collapsed early Thursday morning. "Any time we hear like, 'boom,' or just something that's very unusual, anything that brings those flashbacks, it's just terrifying and it's very traumatizing," he said. , even as police and forensic specialists continue working to identify human remains. MIAMI BEACH The first victim was found in the heap of wreckage just hours after the sudden collapse of a 13-story oceanside condo building. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Discovery Company. "It could have been a very different thing," Janette Aguero said, her voice wavering with emotion. I was standing right here, De Moura said just outside of her home. The Miami-Dade Police Department is leading an investigation into the incident. The 25-year-old caught up with his mom and sister and they continued to run from the scene. Capponi's organization, Global Empowerment Mission, has distributed roughly $75,000 in gift cards among surfside survivors, and he's also working with hotel and condo owners to find places they can live for the next two months. Another requires condo owners to maintain a reserve fund to address needed repairs. Most people who have contacted his nonprofit for help lived in the part that is still standing but assume their homes and anything inside are a complete loss. But, at this point, nothing to indicate that.". "Just don't know why we're here and the rest of the people aren't," Janette Aguero told ABC News. Multiple survivors have recounted that their entire apartment was rattling before the collapse. A woman who survived the collapse of a condo building in Florida said she escaped by climbing through the rubble in the dark with her dog. ALVAREZ: I want answers. Yes, I want answers. Yes. Support . Memorial services are planned throughout the day, including a private event with family members and survivorsat the precise moment of the collapse 1:22 a.m. A public ceremony is planned later in the day. A mother "When we measure subsidence or when we see movement of the buildings, it's worth checking why it happens," Wdowinski, who analyzed space-based radar data, said in a statement Thursday. Last Wednesday night, hours before the collapse, Erick De Moura was walking out of girlfriend Fernanda Figueiredos Miami Beach home to head to his condo in Champlain Towers South. A 15-year-old boy who miraculously survived the Miami condo collapse was sitting in his bedroom next to his mother when the building gave way and she was killed, according to a lawsuit filed by . Im in a dream in California. One was a penthouse, the other on the first floor. Fox News Flash top headlines are here. All rights reserved. she told WPLG. Sara was at an event, Chani was babysitting and Gabe, a night owl, had gone to the gym. Copyright 2023 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. 00:49. - Latest victims in condo tower collapse include 2 children Officials said Thursday that they're making plans for the likely demolition of all parts of the building that didn't collapse. The disaster that killed at least 18 people, with more than 140 still missing, also rendered dozens of people homeless. A total of 20 agencies are offering assistance to families affected by the collapse. Still, officials had resisted abandoning the search-and-rescue effort. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava speaks to ABC News for an interview on "Good Morning America" on June 25, 2021. Those are people I say hello to. The family had just moved in six months ago. Elected officials told the paper that first responders lacked adequate resources and the experience in dealing with such a massive and catastrophic incident. Schechter said as soon as she got out, all she could think about were her neighbors that might have still been inside. They have no luggage. They were screaming. And at that point, I got up, and I said, wow. All rights reserved. This is a 1 in 10,000 year earthquake that hits Florida.. I could hear people crying and screaming for help, Lopez told the Herald. "I don't think I've really processed what happened.". 3:07 PM EDT, Tue July 6, 2021, Video shows boy rescued from rubble in building collapse, saw that a major section of the condo complex had collapsed. Albert Aguero (top left), his wife Janette Aguero (bottom right), his son Justin Willis (top right) and his daughter Athena Aguero (bottom left) speak to ABC News for an interview on "Good Morning America" in Surfside, Fla. on June 25, 2021. It's still unclear what caused the condominium, which has withstood decades of hurricanes, to partially collapse. Legal Statement. The earthquake happened 100 miles off the coast of Florida and experts are weighing in whether it could have had anything to do with the Surfside condo collapse almost a week later. An engineer apparently warned the building's condo association of major structural damage back in 2018. "Three families that I know well," he . While the family is still dealing with the trauma of that night, Gabe said he thinks fate kept them alive. I left my cat behind. (AP), LIVE UPDATES: SURFSIDE CONDO BUILDING COLLAPSE. During times like this, they are very good. Its so difficult to put into words because of the people that are there, but Im grateful to be alive, he said. Teams of firefighters have been cutting through the layers of debris with various machinery and using sonar devices as well as specially trained dogs as part of the search efforts, a process that Jadallah said is "slow and methodical." Jadallah told reporters that at least 11 people were medically assessed and treated on site, four of whom were then transported to local hospitals. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. ALVAREZ: I'll be all right. ", Workers load a stretcher with remains extricated from the rubble into a Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner van, near the Champlain Towers South condo building on Friday. But her mother, Angela Gonzalez, and her sister, Deven Gonzalez, did survive. Praying that the building didnt fall on me, collapse on me. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? "People were yelling, 'help me, get me out, help me.'". "Of course, it's not ruled out," she added. The New Jersey couple were vacationing with their two children in southern Florida, staying on the 11th floor of the oceanfront Champlain Towers South condominium in a unit owned by their parents. When they opened their door, they sawsky and beach where their neighbors doors had once stood. Dubai-based DAMAC Properties won a $120 million bid to acquire the 1.8 acres. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The familys condo was on the ninth floor of the 12-story Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida. Updated on: July 14, 2021 / 9:25 PM Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. The announcement came after search and rescue operations were paused for hours because of growing signs the structure was dangerously unstable. It was not a clap of thunder and it wasn't a storm; it was something else," Albert Aguero told ABC News' T.J. Holmes in an interview Friday on "Good Morning America.". "I'm having a hard time [getting] to sleep. SUSANA ALVAREZ: Not well. Rescue workers continued digging feverishly for a sixth day Tuesday, after stressing Monday that they could still find survivors in the rubble of a collapsed Surfside condo building. The couple lived in apartment No. "It was pitch black. Which of the following structure contains osteocytes? Surfside condo collapse victim Luis Pettengill played college tennis at Indianas Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, from which he graduated in 2007. July 23, 2021 / 11:29 PM / AP. The remains belonged to Estelle Hedaya, 54, according to a statement from the Miami-Dade Police. I think that it was a progressive evolution, and every hour that went by, we continued to add resources.. A Miami-Dade county official told ABC News that there's real concern about the structural integrity of the remaining building, particularly from dangling wires and portions of concrete. Direktor said the construction plans had already been submitted to the Town of Surfside but the only work that had begun was on the roof. Miami, FL 33141 She said she believed she is only one of two people from her floor who survived. A partially collapsed building is seen early Thursday, June 24, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami, Fla. A woman who survived the collapse of a condo building in Florida has shared how she escaped. He and his wife got the kids from their beds and ran for their lives. "That was a very difficult night . Market data provided by Factset. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Survivors recounted hearing signs of the collapse and attempting to escape the building early Thursday morning. I thought, oh, tomorrow on the news, we're going to hear about, you know, tremors in Florida. Yes. Then their bedroom began to shake. "Especially at nighttime. "These folks that we are serving, who we know they are having the worst experience of their lives, are turning around and asking you what can they do to serve," Logan said. Instead she's been sleeping in a chair, constantly thinking of the victims who couldn't escape. Rodriguez helped neighbors escape to a second-floor balcony where firefighters helped them to the ground.

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