Roughly 10 days and 21 hours after a portion of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida, originally collapsed, officials describe a successful implosion that carried down the remaining 12-story structure at 10:30 p.m. on July 4. It made way for an expanded search-and-rescue effort that had been hampered by safety concerns while the unstable section was still standing.
“Last night’s demolition of the remaining portion of Champlain Towers South was executed exactly as planned,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said during her daily update the next morning. “Only dust landed on the existing pile,” the mayor added, confirming the intent of implosion consultant Controlled Demolition Inc. (CDI) working with demolition contractor BG Group. As a consequence, Levine Cava said, “by 1 a.m., we were in full search-and-rescue operation mode.”
On the morning of July 5, the number of confirmed deaths had risen to 27, with 118 still missing.
