Overnight, another body was found. This brings the death toll up to 10. There are still more than 150 people missing from Surfside. Their families took buses Sunday to observe the intense rescue effort that included firefighters, sniffer dogs, and search experts using sonar and radar devices.
A crane lifted a large slab concrete from the debris pile. This allowed rescuers wearing hard hats to enter and transport smaller pieces of debris into red buckets. These are then emptied into larger bins for a crane. The initial search was complicated by intermittent rain showers. However, the fires that had impeded the work were put out.
Andy Alvarez was a deputy incident commander for Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. He said that rescuers were able to locate some voids in the wreckage, mostly in the basement or the garage.
Alvarez stated that more than 80 rescuers are currently working to breach the walls that have collapsed. This is in an effort to save those still alive and reach those voids we know exist in these buildings.
Alvarez said, “We were able to tunnel through this building.” “This is a frenetic search to find that hope, that miracle to see who we can get out of this building alive.”
Others were overwhelmed by the enormity of the task ahead, even though they had seen the wreckage close up. Alfredo Lopez, a man who lived in a six-floor corner apartment with his wife and narrowly escaped death, stated that it is hard to believe anyone is still alive among the rubble.
“If you could see what I saw, nothingness. Then, you look over there and see all the rubble. Lopez explained to The Associated Press, “How can someone survive that?”
Nachman Shai, Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister, is the head of a humanitarian team from Israel, which includes search-and rescue experts and professionals. He said that professionals have reported to him about cases in which survivors were found after more than 100 hours.
He said, “So don’t give up hope. That’s what I would tell you.”
Many families hoped that their visit to the spot near the 12-story building would allow them to shout messages to loved one’s who might be buried in the pile. Many of them hugged each other as they got off the bus and returned to the hotel. Others continued walking slowly, arms wrapped around one another, back to the entrance of the hotel.
“We just wait for answers. Dianne Ohayon, whose parents, Myriam & Arnie Notkin, were present in the building, stated that this is what they want. It’s difficult to endure these long days, and we still haven’t found any answers.
Just days before the deadline, condo owners were required to make steep payments towards more than $9M in repairs. The repairs had been recommended almost three years ago in a report that warned about “major structural damages.”
On Sunday, authorities identified four additional people as Leon Oliwkowicz (80) and Christina Beatriz Elvira Oliwkowicz (74); Ana Ortiz (46), and Luis Bermudez (26). There were 152 people still unaccounted for.
Raide Jadallah, Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief, explained that the conditions at the site have made it difficult for crews searching for survivors. Chief of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department Alan Cominsky stated that his team must work slowly and methodically.
He said that debris is scattered all over, and it’s extremely compact.” He also noted that teams need to stabilize and shore up debris while they travel.
He stated, “We cannot just go in and move the things erratically because that’s going for the worst outcome possible.”
According to Adrian Garulay (CEO of Spec Ops Group), the microwave radar device that NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab developed and the Department of Homeland Security used by rescuers was “seeing” through concrete up to 8 inches (20 cmimeters). A suitcase-sized device that can detect heartbeats and respiration was deployed by a Mexican search-and rescue team of seven members.
Six to eight teams are currently searching the pile at any one time. There are hundreds of team members available to rotate in. According to Daniella Levine Cava, Miami-Dade Mayor, teams have been working around the clock since Thursday.
Crews worked Saturday night to dig a trench measuring 125 feet in length, 20 feet wide, and 40 feet deep. This allowed them to locate more bodies and human remains, she stated.
Earl Tilton, a North Carolina search-and rescue consulting firm, stated that rushing into the rubble with no planning or execution could cause injuries to rescuers or the people they are trying save.
He said that moving the wrong debris at the wrong moment could lead to it falling on workers and crushing them.
Tilton said that it was not wrong for families to believe in the possibility of survival. He said that rescuers had found survivors up to a week after the initial disaster in past urban rescues.
