Category: Surfside

A Year On, Surfside Remembers 98 Victims of Condo Collapse

SURFSIDE, Fla.—A year ago in the middle of the night, a 12-story oceanfront condo building in Surfside, Florida, came down with a thunderous roar, leaving a giant pile of rubble and claiming 98 lives—one of the deadliest structure collapses in U.S. history. The names of each victim were read aloud during a ceremony Friday to…


‘Left With Nothing.’ Survivors of Surfside Condo Collapse Seek More Settlement Money

By Martin Vassolo From Miami Herald MIAMI—After escaping the Champlain Towers South moments before it collapsed last summer, Ileana Monteagudo says she has been trying to rebuild her life at age 65 with no savings and lingering anxiety from the Surfside disaster. She expects to receive about $610,000 from an initial settlement that the 136…


Florida Condo Near Deadly Surfside Collapse Deemed Unsafe, Evacuation Ordered

The city of North Miami Beach ordered residents of an apartment complex near the Surfside condominium building that collapsed last June to evacuate after an engineer said it was “structurally” unsafe. Engineering firm Bronislaus P. Taurinski Structural Engineers alerted the city in a letter on April 4 that the five-story, 60-unit apartment building, at 3800…


Lawsuit Settlement by Law Firm, Engineers to Pay Surfside Victims $55.55 Million

By Nicholas Nehamas From Miami Herald MIAMI—Three major defendants in the Champlain Towers South collapse class-action lawsuit have agreed to settle with victims for a total of $55.55 million, all paid by their insurance firms, according to a court filing. The law firm Becker, which represented Champlain South’s condo association before the deadly June 24…


Lawsuit: Florida Condo Collapse Triggered by Building Work

Construction of a luxury building next door triggered the collapse of an already fragile Florida condominium that killed 98 people in June, according to a new lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed late Tuesday on behalf of Champlain Towers South victims and family members, contends that work on the adjacent Eighty Seven Park tower damaged and destabilized…


Judge: Mediator Will Sort Claims in Florida Condo Collapse

Hoping to avoid a bitter and lengthy battle over money by victims, a judge on Wednesday said a mediator will be named to sort through claims arising from the collapse of a Florida condominium that killed 98 people. The intent is for an agreement to be reached on the distribution of money from the planned…


Body Camera Footage Shows Chaos, Confusion as Police Rushed to Scene of Collapsed Surfside Condo

Body camera footage released Tuesday shows police officers’ initial response to the Surfside, Florida, condominium collapse that left 98 dead. “There’s a lot of dust. I can barely see anything,” a Surfside Police officer said, video shows. “Is anybody there? This is huge. I mean, humongous. It’s gone. The whole back of the building is…


Death Toll in Florida Condo Building Collapse Rises to 95

SURFSIDE, Fla.—Exhausted crews neared the end of their search for victims of a Miami-area condominium tower collapse Tuesday as the death toll reached 95 with just a handful of people still unaccounted for. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at a news conference that the number of people considered missing has dwindled as authorities…


Vaccinated Leader at Florida Condo Site Tests Positive for COVID-19

MIAMI—A vaccinated Miami-Dade county commissioner who helped other local officials in Surfside following the collapse of a condominium building announced that he and his chief of staff tested positive for COVID-19. The news release late Sunday from Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz said he and his chief of staff Isidoro Lopez, who also…


Death Toll From Florida Condo Collapse Death Toll Rises to 94

The death toll from the partial collapse of a condominium near Miami rose by four to 94 on Monday, with 22 people still unaccounted for as workers continued to sift through the rubble of the building, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said. Due to the passage of time, officials are increasingly relying on the…