As a tropical storm approaches Florida, the remaining portion of a partly collapsed apartment building in Miami has been demolished due to safety concerns.
Late Sunday, explosive charges were utilised to bring down the final remaining section of Champlain Towers South.
On June 24, a portion of the 12-story building fell. Twenty-four individuals are confirmed to have died, while 121 remain unaccounted for.
The remaining unstable building, which did not contain any corpses, was destroyed to allow search operations to continue in a safe manner.
Prior to the scheduled destruction, efforts to search the debris for victims of the first collapse were put on hold. They are expected resume and will be running soon.
Due to an impending tropical storm, city authorities opted to use explosives to destroy the remaining portion of Champlain Towers South.
Strong winds may bring down more debris, endangering the lives of search workers, according to the town’s mayor, Charles Burkett, who spoke on Sunday.
He claimed that demolition specialists will be able to regulate how the building collapsed, and that the blast might “potentially open up a third of the pile [of rubble]” for emergency teams to access”
Meanwhile, the existing rubble was covered with a tarpaulin to keep out any dust or debris brought in by the fall.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava urged people in the area to stay inside and shut their windows for at least two hours after the demolition was finished.
She said the operation, which involved placing strategically placed explosives in drilled holes, was “critical to expand our scope of search – especially in the area closest to the building”.
