FL - Champlain Towers South Building Collapse, Miami, 24 June 2021 Media Thread **NO DISCUSSION**

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After debris shifts at collapse site, crews face search restrictions; Levine Cava announces demolition plans


After debris shifts at collapse site, crews face search restrictions; Levine Cava announces demolition plans – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports | Fort Lauderdale

Officials said equipment at the site detected movement that forced first responders to stop their rescue mission for their own safety, early Thursday morning.

“While it was determined the building itself had not moved, however, debris in the pile below the building, as well as debris on the building of significant size had displaced,” said Nacheman.

While search and rescue efforts have resumed after a 15-hour pause, there are restrictions based on the advice of structural engineers. Currently, teams can only work on three of the nine grids mapped out on the site of the building collapse.

As for plans to demolish the rest of the structure, officials said those decisions take time because they have to evaluate the conditions at the site and plan everything out so it doesn’t disrupt the momentum of first responders.

As of Thursday night, 18 people are confirmed dead, 145 people have not been accounted for, and 139 people have been accounted for, officials said.
 
Biden Meets With Families Waiting for News From Condo Rubble

Biden Meets With Families Waiting for News From Condo Rubble

A video of Mr. Biden posted during the event by one of the family members appeared to show the president talking in somber tones about the grief he felt from the death of his wife and daughter in a car accident that also severely injured his two young boys.

“The waiting, the waiting, is unbearable,” he told the families, many of whom have been waiting for more than a week for word about whether anyone might still be alive under the concrete and steel.

Mr. Biden said that many of the family members asked what he called “basic heart-wrenching” questions: Would they be able to recover the bodies of their loved ones so they could bury them? If I don’t get the body back, what do I do?

But at the same time, he said he was surprised by their realism and resilience.


 
Miami-Dade Police Department
June 30, 2021

Investigators are seeking the assistance of our community in obtaining information from anyone that witnessed the #SurfsideBuildingCollapse. If you have any videos or photos, please call the Surfside Collapse Witness Tip Line at 305-428-4417 from 8:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m.

205551023_10158687978589926_898370616891709950_n.jpg

https://twitter.com/miamidadepd/status/1410353259458539521

Miami-Dade PD Asking For Videos & Photos Of Surfside Condo Collapse

[...]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is also seeking info from the public for its investigation.

NIST asks that you share your photos, videos and any additional info at nist.gov.

[...]
 
The Dream of Florida Is Dead

Danny Rivero was one of the first reporters on the scene of the Champlain Towers South condo collapse in the town of Surfside, Florida, not too far from Miami Beach. He’s been there almost every day since, chronicling what is still, technically, a search and rescue mission. The death toll now stands at 12, but 149 people are still unaccounted-for. And Rivero says the initial shock of the event is “starting to wear off,” turning to grief—and anger. “This didn’t happen for no reason,” he says. “Even though it came out of nowhere, in a sense, it did not come out of nowhere. There were reasons behind why this happened.”
 
A first responder who did not want to be identified confirmed to Local 10 News Friday that another rescuer found the body of his own daughter Thursday night as he was searching through the debris of the Champlain Towers South collapse.

The first responder said rescuers brought her down and the girl’s father draped his jacket over her body and placed a small American flag on the gurney.

The father, his brother and the other firefighters who dug her out escorted the body through a group of police officers and firefighters lined up on the roadway, the first responder said.
First responder finds daughter’s body in Surfside as crews continue searching for victims of collapse
 
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Alfredo Lopez and his wife Marian were asleep when the first thundering blast jolted them awake. Moments later, a second boom, much louder than the first, shook their bed on the sixth floor of their Miami apartment.

Alfredo rushed to wake his 24-year-old son Michael, urging him to get dressed, before running to the balcony window.

“All I could see was just white dust, very thick. I could barely see the balcony railing.”

The lights cut out and the emergency alarm came on, warning the residents of Champlain Towers South to evacuate.

The Lopez family — Alfredo is 61, his wife Marian, 67 — lives on the street side of the condo that's still partially intact, but when he opened the front door half of the building was gone. A jagged five-foot chunk of flooring barely left enough room to escape.

“There was no hallway, no ceiling, no apartments, no walls, nothing.”

“I was petrified. I really thought, ‘This is it. We are going to die’,” Alfredo Lopez said.

[...]

As condo crashed down, they escaped through smoke and ruin (more at link)
July 3, 2021, 12:01 AM ET • 5 min read
 
Florida building collapse: What we know about those missing, dead

Florida building collapse: What we know about those missing, dead

Seventeen of the 18 victims have been identified:

Michael David Altman, 50
Luis Bermudez, 26
Christina Beatriz Elvira, 74
Stacie Fang, 54
Andreas Giannitsopoulos, 21
Emma Guara, 4
Lucia Guara, 10
Marcus Joseph Guara, 52
Frank Kleiman, 55
Manuel LaFont, 54
Antonio Lozano, 82
Gladys Lozano, 80
Hilda Noriega, 92
Leon Oliwkowicz, 80
Anna Ortiz, 46
Anaely Rodriguez, 42
Magaly Delgado, 80


Confirmed Deceased

Michael Altman
11th Floor

Nick Altman describes his dad Michael, 50, as a selfless man who had a love for life, racquetball, and his family.

Michael was a champion racquetball player in his younger days, according to Altman, and shared that gift with his two sons, who frequently let him use his skills against them.

"He's just a one-of-a-kind guy, no one can ever replace him or be like him in my life, I've never met someone as lovable as him," Altman said.

Magaly Delgado
9th Floor

Ramsey said her mother was trying to "live her best life" in Champlain Towers South condos by the water.

"She loved the building, she loved the community," Ramsey said of her mother.

Stacie Dawn Fang

Stacie is the mother of Jonah Handler, the boy who was pulled from the rubble alive, her family said in a statement.

Lucia, Emma, and Marcus Guara and Anaely Rodriguez

Guara and his family's identity were confirmed by his employer, Kassatex New York.

CEO and founder of Kassatex, Ernesto Khoudari, sent the following statement to CNN in an email:

"The Kassatex family is deeply saddened over the loss of Marcus Guara and his beautiful family. From the moment he started working with us, his creativity, vivacity for the business, charming smile, and never give up attitude fueled his passion for our company, and his relationships he made along the way. He was an amazing asset to the team and will be missed immensely."

Manuel LaFont
8th Floor

Manuel LaFont, 54, was a proud father, a baseball fan and a business consultant who lived on the building's eighth floor.

LaFont, a Houston native, coached his son's baseball team, the Astros, at North Shore Park, just a mile away from the Champlain. He was a parishioner at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Miami Beach.

LaFont had worked across Latin America and the Caribbean for a manufacturing firm, leading a division focusing on roadway safety that built crash cushions and moveable barriers, the Herald reported.

Antonio and Gladys Lozano
9th Floor, Unit 903

Married for 59 years, the couple's grandson said they always sparred over who would die first -- neither willing to live without the other.

"It's tragic but it's strangely unsettling that I have peace knowing they would constantly play argue about who would pass first," Brian Lozano told ABC News in a statement. "But in the end ... they got what they both wanted. Each other."

Hilda Noriega

Hilda Noriega had called Champlain Towers home for more than 20 years. But six years after her husband died, the 92-year-old was ready to leave.

"We were going to move her into our home and her condo was up for sale," said Sally Noriega, her daughter-in-law.

Hilda Noriega's daughter-in-law described her as "an extremely loving and sweet person," who built a life with her husband and raised a family after coming to the U.S. from Cuba in 1960.

Leon and Cristina Oliwkowicz
8th Floor

They had already sent their children to live in the U.S. from Venezuela, and then joined them as the economic and political crisis worsened in their native country, said Rabbi Moshe Perlstein, dean of the Yeshivas Ohr Eliyahu-Lubavitch Mesivta, an Orthodox Jewish School in Chicago where one of their daughters, Leah Fouhal, works as an office manager.

Perlstein said the couple was known for their generosity: Three years ago, they donated a valuable Torah scroll to the school in memory of Leon Oliwkowicz's parents.

Ana Ortiz, Luis Bermudez Jr. and Frank Kleiman
7th Floor

Luis Bermudez, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, had battled muscular dystrophy for years and used a wheelchair. The 26-year-old man lived with his mother, Ana Ortiz, on the seventh floor of the Champlain Towers South.

Ortiz, 46, had just gotten married to Frankie Kleiman. Kleiman lived with his wife and stepson on the same floor as his brother Jay Kleiman, who was in town for a funeral, and their mother Nancy Kress Levin. Jay Kleiman and Nancy Kress Levin are still listed as missing.

Missing

Maria and Claudio Bonnefoy
10th Floor

Claudio Bonnefoy and his Filipino-American wife Maria Obias Bonnefoy had been spending little time in the apartment, and probably wouldn't have been among the missing if not for the pandemic.

Bonnefoy, an 85-year-old lawyer, is the second cousin of former Chilean President and High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, and both he and his wife worked for international organizations, they said.

Bonnie Epstein
9th Floor, Unit 901

David and Bonnie Epstein lived in unit 901 with their dog Chase, said Bonnie's cousin Joey Feldman.

David was a retired successful real estate investor who loved to jet ski and kite surf. The couple have a son who lives in New York.

Tzvi and Ingrd "Itty" Ainsworth

Tzvi and Ingrd "Itty" Ainsworth were celebrating the birth of two new grandchildren.

The couple, who are in their 60s, lived in Australia for nearly two decades before returning to South Florida to be near their children. The couple had seven children and many live in South Florida, including their daughter just blocks away.

Itty's mother, a Holocaust survivor living in Miami Beach, is battling cancer and doesn't know about the tragedy.

"They didn't tell her. She's not well," Harrel. said. "It's absolutely horrific."

Richard Augustine

Richard Augustine, 77, was just hours away from a flight to Chicago, where his daughter, Debbie Hill, had planned to pick him up at the airport.

Augustine had just visited his son in California, and went back to his Florida home to repack for the weekend visit with his daughter.

Cassondra Billedeau-Stratton

Cassondra Stratton, the wife of Michael Stratton, a Democratic political strategist from Colorado, is among those still believed to be missing, his law firm's spokesperson Lara Day told CNN.

The 40-year-old has worked as an actress, model and Pilates instructor, bringing "a vivacious love of life to everything she does," her husband said in a statement.

Michael Stratton said he and his wife were talking on the phone when the building collapsed. "She described that the building was shaking and then ... the phone went dead," he said.

The Cattarossi family

Argentine Graciela Cattarossi is a beloved mother and friend who works as an independent photographer for hotels, magazines, banks and airlines from different parts of the world.

The most important thing in her world, however, is her 7-year-old daughter Stella.

Cattarossi, 48, a single mother, lived in Champlain Towers South with Stella and her own parents, Graciela and Gino Cattarossi. All four were missing Monday, along with Cattarossi's sister, Andrea, an architect in Pilar, Argentina, who was visiting.

Brad and Gary Cohen

Florida resident Soriya Cohen told ABC News that her husband, Brad Cohen, a 51-year-old orthopedic surgeon, and her brother-in-law, Gary Cohen, a doctor visiting from Alabama, both are missing.

She said she and her daughter were staying in a different home at the time because their family is in the process of moving. Her son is currently studying abroad and trying to get home, she said.

Andrés Galfrascoli, Fabián Nuñez and their daughter Sofia Galfrascoli Nuñez

Argentines Andrés Galfrascoli, 45, his partner Fabián Nuñez, 55, and their daughter, Sofía Galfrascoli Núñez, 6, are among the missing, according to a friend.

The three were on vacation in Florida, staying at the condo of a friend, Nicolás Fernández.

Nine Argentines were missing as of Thursday afternoon, the country's consulate in Miami said on Twitter.

Gil and Betty Guerra
9th Floor, Unit 910

Gil Guerra and his wife, Betty Guerra, were in the process of moving out of apartment 910 and had just gotten furniture at their new apartment on Monday.

"They only got married late 2017 and have been living it up like two teenagers in love traveling the world and eating all they can together," she said.

Estelle Hedaya
6th Floor, Unit 604

Estelle Hedaya loves to dance. She even calls herself Cha Cha Cha on social media.

Her Miami friends described the Brooklyn native as a free spirit who loves traveling and new experiences and documented them all on her blog, Follow the Toes.

Days before the building crumbled, she was in Las Vegas, a trip she documented with photos of her lounging poolside at Caesar's Palace. Davidson said the last time they talked Hedaya was excited about her new car, a red Lexus she purchased a week before the condo collapsed.

"Now I really am the lady in red," Hedaya posted on Instagram, alongside an image of the car.

Nicole Langesfeld and Luis Sadovnic
8th Floor

Nicole Langesfeld and her husband Luis Sadovnic were just starting their lives together after moving into an apartment on the eighth floor of Champlain Towers South earlier this year after getting married five months ago, her brother Martin Langesfeld told The Associated Press.

Sadovnic proposed to Langesfeld on December 24, 2020, on the beach in front of the building. The Jewish couple married one month later in a private civil ceremony because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Nicole Langesfeld is a commercial litigator whose family is from Argentina, but she was born in the U.S. Sadovnic is an entrepreneur from Venezuela. The apartment where they lived was owned by Sadovnic's grandfather. They met when they studied at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Nicky, as she is known to friends and family, loves animals. She has a guinea pig named Kali and two dogs, Capo and Zoey.

Sadovnic loved playing golf early on the weekend with his friends before joining Langesfeld on the beach, where they listened to reggaeton, lay out in the sun and swam in the ocean, said Noah Goldberg, a co-worker of Langesfeld. At night, they enjoyed going out to different restaurants and exploring.

The Shul of Bal Harbour Jewish community members

Members of the synagogue believed to be missing are Nancy Kress Levin, Jay Kleinman, Frankie Kleinman, Arie Leib, Yisroel Tzvi Yosef and Tzvi Doniel, according to Lipskar.

Rabbi Zalman Lipskar told CNN's Randi Kaye he believes at least 20 people associated with the Shul of Bal Harbour are missing. Their ages range from 20 to 60 years old.

Russel Manashirova and Nicole Doran
7th Floor

Manashirova's brother, Dr. Russel Manashirova and his wife Nicole Doran moved to the seventh floor of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside to be closer to work. They just got married in May.

Linda March

Among the missing was Linda March, who eagerly traded a cramped New York apartment for fresh air and ocean views after surviving a COVID-19 infection.

Florida was a new start for the 58-year-old attorney. In the past decade, she'd lost her sister and mother to cancer, her father died a few years later and she and her husband divorced. She had no children.

Laufer said March loved the ocean views but hated the incessant noise from nearby construction and had decided to break her lease. "She was looking for another apartment when this happened," Laufer said sadly.

The Mora family

Juan Mora Jr., who works for Morton Salt in Chicago, had been staying with his parents, Juan and Ana Mora, when the building collapsed.

Immigrants from Cuba and devout Catholics, they took their family on missionary trips to the Caribbean to build churches and bridges, said Jeanne Ugarte, a close friend of Ana's. Later, they became like second parents to Juan Jr.'s friends in Chicago, where their son has managed East Coast distribution for Morton Salt's road salt business, his friend Matthew Kaade said.

Kaade, who graduated with Mora from Loyala University Chicago in 2011, said he texted this month saying he was planning to return to Chicago in early August.

"I was super excited to get him to come back," said Kaade. He described Juan Jr., an avid Chicago Cubs fan, as genuine and someone his friends could always rely on "to be real and straight" with them.

Sophia López Moreira, husband Luis Pettengill and other relatives of Paraguay's first lady

That family -- including Sophia López Moreira and her husband Luis Pettengill -- was in the US to receive COVID-19 vaccinations, Paraguay's foreign minister said.

Lady Vanessa Luna Villalba, a nanny from rural Paraguay employed by Moreira, is also among the missing.

Six Paraguayans in all are unaccounted for, the ministry tweeted.

Ilan Naibryf and Deborah Berezdivin

Ilan Naibryf and his girlfriend, Deborah Berezdivin, were staying in her family's condo in the building, according to Naibryf's parents, Ronit Felszer and Carlos Naibryf.

Ilan and his girlfriend were in town for a funeral.

Ilan "was a 21-year-old young adult. Bright. Everywhere he went, he made an impact," his father said, adding that his son is a physics major at University of Chicago.

Myriam and Arnie Notkin

Myriam Caspi Notkin, 81, and her husband, Arnold "Arnie" Notkin, 87, married about 20 years ago after losing their spouses, according to a family friend.

The Patel family

Vishal Patel, his wife Bhavna Patel, and their 1-year-old daughter Aishani Patel are believed to be among the missing, their niece Sarina Patel told CNN, adding that Bhavna Patel is four-months pregnant.

Pablo Rodriguez's family

A woman who said creaking noises woke her up in the building the night before the collapse is missing, her son, Pablo Rodriguez, said.

Both his mother and grandmother were in the section that collapsed first, and the family hasn't heard from them.

Harry Rosenberg

A New York City man, Harry Rosenberg, is missing in the rubble of the building in Surfside, along with his daughter and her husband, who were visiting for the Sabbath.

The 52-year-old asset manager had recently moved into Champlain Towers South following the loss of his wife to cancer and his parents to COVID-19.

Described as a family man and observant Jew, Rosenberg had launched a young adult center for mental healing at a hospital in Israel in memory of his late wife, Anna Rosenberg.

Before his wife died last summer of a brain tumor, he spent three years taking care of her, a close friend said.

Elaine Sabino

Elaine Sabino, a JetBlue flight attendant, was staying with a friend in the penthouse of the condo during the collapse.

The 70-year-old was described as a bubbly person with a big personality who loves glitter, rhinestones, and sequins.

Judy Spiegel

Kevin Spiegel, who lived in Champlain Towers with his wife, Judy, said he was on a business trip in California when the building collapsed.

Her daughter, Rachel Spiegel, last received a text from her mother around 9 p.m. Wednesday -- roughly four and a half hours before the collapse, she told CNN.

That text was about a princess dress that Judy ordered for one of Rachel's daughters.

Maria Theresa and Ricky Rovirosa

Maria Theresa and Ricky Rovirosa are a "perfect match" who support each other and others, according to longtime friend Monika Mucarsel Gressier.

"When I think of them, I think of one of my favorite memories of the times I watched them dance salsa and how loving they were always to each other," Gressier wrote.

The Velasquez family

David Velasquez posted on Facebook that his parents, Julio Cesar Velasquez, 67, and Angela Maria Velasquez, 60, live in the 12-story residential building.

His sister Theresa Velasquez, 36, had come to visit her parents and was staying with them at the time of the collapse.

6 Colombian Citizens

Six Colombian citizens are unaccounted for following the collapse, Colombian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Camila Mugno told CNN on Friday.

6 Venezuelan Citizens

"At the moment we are handling information from six Venezuelans not located in the collapse of the building in Surfside," Brian Fincheltub, Venezuela's consular affairs director, tweeted.

3 Uruguayan Citizens

Three Uruguayan citizens are among the missing, according to the consulate in Miami.

The consulate is in contact with local authorities and with the families of the people missing, said Consul General Eduardo Bouzout.

Much more information at link >>> Florida building collapse: What we know about those missing, dead
 
Last edited:
Surfside Condo Wreckage Hints at First Signs of Possible Construction Flaw

Engineers who have visited or examined photos of the wreckage of the Champlain Towers South condominium complex have been struck by a possible flaw in its construction: Critical places near the base of the building appeared to use less steel reinforcement than called for in the project’s original design drawings.

Reached by phone, Allyn E. Kilsheimer, a forensic engineering expert hired by the town of Surfside to investigate the collapse, said the investigation was still in its early stages. But he confirmed there were signs that the amount of steel used to connect concrete slabs below a parking deck to the building’s vertical columns might be less than what the project’s initial plans specified.

Surfside Condo Wreckage Hints at First Signs of Possible Construction Flaw
 
Posted by @sds71 on main thread


When 16-year-old rising volleyball star Deven Gonzalez was pulled from the rubble of her Miami condo building, her initial reaction amid the shock was to tell firefighters that she had to compete in a major tournament in a few days.

The teen's world revolved around volleyball. She played beach volleyball, on her high school team and with a competitive travel club team. From her hospital bed where she's undergone multiple surgeries for a broken femur, she apologized profusely to her coach for missing their final practice.

Gonzalez lived with her parents on the ninth floor of Champlain Towers South. She and her mother, Angela Gonzalez, fell several stories before being rescued on the fifth floor, she told her coach. Her mother was among the survivors pulled from the rubble and is still hospitalized with serious injuries, Morgan told The Associated Press
… Deven Gonzalez's father, attorney Edgar Gonzalez, is among the more than 120 still missing.

Tale of rescue after falling several floors in Surfside collapse
 
Pretty dry, some areas still having water, appears focus on some areas.. Also, another building final evacuation today.

dryer.JPG

workers.JPG <<-- Now doing ?something? at one of the column bases. Mixing up ?? and adding to hold or ???

Wide view - Champlain Towers South

Current Because Surfside live feed:

Evacuated building today with video. Miami Beach Evacuating Devon Apartments Due To Safety Concerns and Residents of 30-unit North Beach apartment building ordered to evacuate over safety concerns – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports | Fort Lauderdale
 
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