The death toll rises to 27 in searches at the Florida accommodation Climate News

The remains of the building were demolished overnight as rescuers spread the search to previously unsafe areas of waste piles.

Three other bodies were found in the ruins of a partially collapsed condominium in Surfside, Florida, on Monday, and the number of confirmed deaths has reached 27, after the remaining parts of the dilapidated complex were demolished overnight.

The bodies were found when search and rescue work resumed demolition On the rest of the Champlain Towers South complex in Surfside. Officials said the number of missing had dropped to 118.

“The collapse of an entire apartment building is an absolute decision and the demolition is by no means a decision I took lightly,” said Daniella Levine Cava, the mayor of Miami-Dade County.

“The demolition of the building in a controlled manner was key to expanding our search scope, in fact, we could not continue without demolishing this building,” Cava told the media on Monday.

At 22:30 on Sunday night (Monday at 2:30 p.m.), the explosives destroyed the remaining partially collapsed 12-story building that was crushed in early June 24th.

The video footage of the managed implosion showed the structure falling and throwing smoke and dust into the ground. Using a method called “energy cutting,” the crew used small explosives and relied on gravity to pull the building into place.

Firefighters repeatedly inspected people and pets, used thermal scanning drones to detect body heat, and set traps for living animals on exposed floors.

“We really tried our best to take every step we could, to ensure that all the pets who were dear family members were the first to respond with great risk and none of them would stay in the building,” he said.

There have been search and rescue efforts called during the demolition, but those efforts resumed within 15 minutes and rescue workers focused on an area of ​​the mound of debris they could not search for before, as the rest of the building was in danger of collapsing, Cavak told reporters.

As of Monday morning, Elsa was in a tropical storm Near Cuba a sustained wind with a peak of about 100 km / h (60 mph) and was ready to move across the country on its way to Florida. The Cuban Meteorological Institute said it was traveling at 22 km / h (14 mph) in the northwest.

The storm was expected to approach west Florida north of the city of Tampa on Tuesday or Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said.

The medical examiner’s vehicle is pictured after the bodies of three other people were found among the rubble of a tall building that collapsed in Florida. [Marco Bello/Reuters]

The National Weather Service projected that, following the storm to the west, Miami-Dade would see occasional heavy rain and thunderstorms with strong wind gusts and heavy local rains and potential flooding.

Prior to the demolition, residents of nearby buildings were told not to evacuate, but because of the dust, they were ordered to stay indoors and turn off the air conditioning.

Researchers have not determined what caused it 40-year-old Surfside complex to fall. A 2018 engineering report found structural deficiencies that are the focus of the consultations that included the jury’s review.

The disaster caused other buildings to be urgently overhauled. Residents at North Miami Beach’s Crestview Towers were told Friday that engineers had to find serious concrete and electrical problems and leave immediately.