Biden mourns with Florida families, search of collapsed condo ruins resumes 02 Jul 2021 / 10:19 H. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visit a memorial put in place for the victims of the building collapse in Surfside, in Tent city area, Surfside, Florida, July 1, 2021. -Reuters
SURFSIDE: Rescue-and-recovery teams resumed picking through the rubble of a partially collapsed Florida condominium complex yesterday, nearly 15 hours after the search of scores of victims believed buried in the rubble a week ago was suspended for safety concerns.
The renewed search effort began shortly after a visit to the site by US President Joe Biden, who pledged federal assistance and offered comfort to the families of those killed and missing in the June 24 disaster.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive at Miami International Airport on Thursday, July 1, 2021, in Miami. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Susan Walsh
SURFSIDE, Fla. (AP) â Rescue efforts at the site of a partially collapsed Florida condominium building were halted Thursday out of concern about the stability of the remaining structure, officials said.
Search crews that have been atop the pile of rubble for the last week stopped work shortly after 2 a.m., Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told a news conference.
The stoppage came on the same day that crews and relatives of those still missing were scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden in a visit that many hoped would provide some measure of comfort to a devastated community.
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President Joe Biden meets with first responders in Miami Beach, Fla., on Thursday. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
(CN) President Joe Biden flew to Florida on Thursday to meet with first responders and the families of those trapped in the rubble of the Surfside condominium collapse, as he tackles the first national disaster of his young presidency.
“Our message today is that we are here for you as one nation,” Biden said from the St. Regis Hotel in Miami.
Biden’s visit – his first to Florida since becoming president comes as 145 people remain unaccounted for a week after the 12-story Champlain Towers South condominium mysteriously collapsed. Search-and-rescue teams have already pulled 18 bodies from the wreckage, including two children on Wednesday. The children, 4 and 10 years old, were sisters.