Victims of Miami condo collapse could share $130m from sale of the land as death toll rises to 46 with 99 still missing and rescuers say there is now no hope for survivors
The search for victims of the collapse of a Miami-area high-rise condominium reached its 14th day on Wednesday, with the death toll at 46, scores still unaccounted for and authorities sounding more and more grim.
The somber news comes as lawyers prepare to launch class-action civil suits that could see victims receive a total of up to $130million from the sale of the land where the condo stood.
Some of Miami's best known civil litigators have volunteered to work the case pro bono in order to maximize the payouts to the victims, according to The Miami Herald.
The Herald is also reporting that the condo association estimates that the land is worth between $100million and $130million. A web site is expected to go live on Wednesday allowing families to get informed about the ongoing legal process.
Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah told family members in a private briefing Wednesday that workers had pulled 10 more bodies and additional human remains from the rubble, raising the death toll.
Crews 'did some significant removal of the pile,' he said.
'They were able to get down to various areas to inspect.'
The image above released on Wednesday shows rescue efforts at the site of the condo collapse in Surfside, Florida
Rescue crews braved winds whipped up by Tropical Storm Elsa, which was expected to make landfall in Wednesday near Tampa
The bodies of 10 more people were pulled from the rubble, bringing the death toll to 46 people
The image above is a satellite photo showing Tropical Storm Elsa as it swirled 70 miles northwest of Tampa, Florida at 7:50am Eastern time on Wednesday
This graphic shows Hurricane Elsa bearing down on the Florida coast, and its expected trajectory
Workers on Tuesday dug through pulverized concrete where the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside once stood, filling buckets that were passed down a line to be emptied and then returned.
The up-close look at the search, in a video released Tuesday by the Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue Department, came as eight more deaths were announced - the most for a single day since the search began.
It also came as rain and wind from Tropical Storm Elsa disrupted the effort, though the storm was on track to make landfall far across the state.
Searchers have found no new signs of survivors, and although authorities said their mission was still geared toward finding people alive, they sounded increasingly somber.
Rubble and debris of the Champlain Towers South condo can be seen on Tuesday in Surfside, Fla
A memorial for the Guara family is posted on a fence near the Champlain Towers South on Tuesday
A workers makes her way past the rubble and debris of the Champlain Towers South condo in Surfside on Tuesday
Officials overseeing the search at the site of the Florida condominium collapse seem increasingly somber about the prospects for finding anyone alive
The rubble shown here is from the front portion of the condo towers, which was demolished 11 days after the back part of the tower collapsed with people inside
Searchers were still looking for any open spaces within the mounds of rubble where additional survivors might be found
'Right now, we're in search and rescue mode,' the county's police director, Freddy Ramirez, said at a news conference Tuesday evening.
He soon added: 'Our primary goal right now is to bring closure to the families.'
No one has been rescued from the site since the first hours after the building collapsed on June 24 when many of its residents were asleep.
Searchers were still looking for any open spaces within the mounds of rubble where additional survivors might be found, said the county's fire chief, Alan Cominsky.
'Unfortunately, we are not seeing anything positive,' he said.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the families of the missing were preparing for news of 'tragic loss.'
She said President Joe Biden, who visited the area last week, called Tuesday to offer his continued support.
'I think everybody will be ready when it's time to move to the next phase,' she said.
Reporters got their closest in-person look at the site Tuesday, though it was limited to the portion of the building that workers tore down Sunday after the initial collapse left it standing but dangerously unstable.
A pile of shattered concrete and twisted steel stood about 30 feet high and spanned roughly half the length of a football field.
A pair of backhoes pulled rubble off the pile, which blocked any view of the search effort.
Severe weather from Elsa hindered search efforts to a degree.
Lightning forced rescuers to pause their work for two hours early Tuesday, Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah said.
And winds of 20 mph, with stronger gusts, hampered efforts to move heavy debris with cranes, officials said.
However, the storm's heaviest winds and rain would bypass Surfside and neighboring Miami as Elsa weakened along its path to an expected landfall somewhere between Tampa Bay and Florida's Big Bend.
Crews have removed 124 tons of debris from the site, Cominsky said.
The debris was being sorted and stored in a warehouse as potential evidence in the investigation into why the building collapsed, officials said.
Workers have been freed to search a broader area since the unstable remaining portion of the building was demolished.
Rubble and debris of the Champlain Towers South condo can be seen in Surfside on Tuesday
People look out from a balcony onto the collapsed and subsequently demolished Champlain Towers South condominium building
Members of the media photograph the collapsed and demolished Champlain Towers South condominium building on Tuesday
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