Amid thunderstorms, rescue workers continue to search Florida condo collapse site

Rescue workers dig through the Champlain Towers South debris pile.

(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

published July 5, 2021

Rescue crews searching through the rubble at the Champlain Towers South site in Surfside, Florida, found the remains of four more people on Monday, bringing the death toll to 28. There are 117 people still missing.

The condominium building partially collapsed on June 24, and on Sunday, the rest of the complex was demolished. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said this move allows rescue workers to "access every part of that pile, which they hadn't been able to do up to this point. I think it's going to move the pace. I think the momentum is very strong."

The structure was so unstable that rescue efforts could not continue "without bringing this building down," Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said. Families who had wanted to go back into the building to get pets and belongings before it was demolished were told they could not enter; officials said after using a drone and making three sweeps of the different floors, they did not see any signs of animals still being inside.