"Every victim we remove is very difficult," says the Miami-Dade County Fire Chief. The death toll from last week's Florida condo collapse rose to 20 with 128 people unaccounted for. No one has been pulled alive from the debris since rescue efforts began https://t.co/YZzqH8tSTspic.twitter.com/xHn67yG7Ga — Reuters (@Reuters) July 2, 2021
The decision was made after mounting worries that the damaged building may collapse on its own, endangering the employees below and complicating the search for casualties. Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah said the decision had to be made since the drilling of holes to hold the explosives could cause the fragile building to collapse. "Every victim we remove is very difficult," he said. Since the initial hours following the collapse on June 24, no one has been rescued.