You couldn't see anything. The family is now living in a hotel and dealing with the trauma of that night. Sara and Eyal Nir have six kids and two of them, Gabe and Chani, moved into the condominium building with them. As of Thursday . I looked forward, which is where the elevator shaft is, and it was just a hole," Albert Aguero recalled. Some of the victims of the devastating condo collapse in Surfside, Fla., may have been alive for hours after the building first caved in but were never found alive by rescue . Recordings of 911 calls released from the scene of the Florida condominium building collapse reveal the chaos and . OfeOsin-Cohen, anotherfourth-floor resident who escaped,told NBC's "Today" showshewassound asleepwhen she hearda weird sound and feltthe building shake. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, ", "It's a tremendous tragedy," he said, after taking a moment to collect himself. Your email address will not be published. Albert Aguero and his family had asimilarclose call. On Tuesday, Balboa told CNN in a phone call that the boys uncle reached out to him on June 28 on Facebook, and also called him to say thank you for saving his nephew. When they opened their door, they sawsky and beach where their neighbors doors had once stood. Im in a dream in California. 2023 Cable News Network. They were the nicest couple. A class-action complaint updated on Nov. 10 alleges that the towers were badly damaged and destabilized because of excavation and construction at the neighboring 18-story Eighty Seven Park condominium, according to court documents. "We are finding our way out until we get to some light.". Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. In the main lawsuit, brought by surviving family members, they argued thatrepair work to a neighboring building damaged and destabilized the Surfside building, which was found to be in need of major structural repairs to its foundation for years. They have been hampered by torrential rain and fires and have had to move with excruciating care. So far, they have rescued 35 people who were trapped in the building and two others from beneath the rubble, according to Jadallah. First responders arrive at the partially . He followed the sound and located 15-year-old Jonah Handler, whose hand and fingers were visibly wiggling through the wreckage. The building's shocking anddevastating collapselast month killed at least 97 people inside but the Nirs managed to get out alive. U.S. President Joe Biden subsequently approved an emergency declaration in Florida and ordered federal assistance to supplement state and local response efforts in the wake of the partial building collapse. Florida Gov. "I don't think I've really processed what happened.". When I opened the door to my apartment, it leads to a long hallway, and all I saw was debris, Osin-Cohen told"Today. Did Mavericks kneel during national anthem. "We were screaming 'Help! 1401 79th Street Causeway Surfside Resident Who Survived Condominium Collapse Wants Answers NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with Susana Alvarez, who lived on the 10th floor of the building that collapsed in Surfside, Florida Was any of that shared with the rest of residents? And there was maybe two apartments left in my floor, and I banged on their doors. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. "It could have been a very different thing," Janette Aguero said, her voice wavering with emotion. I see cars going inwards, underneath the building underneath the building is the car garage. Alfredo and Marian Lopez were sound asleep around 1:30 a.m. Thursday when they heard the first boom, like a crash of thunder from a Florida . And they opened it, and I just ran. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. A 15-year-old boy who miraculously survived the Miami condo collapse was sitting in his bedroom next to his mother when the building gave way and she was killed, according to a lawsuit filed by . This was in a matter of seconds, out of nowhere. And it felt like the longest thunder I had ever heard in my life. Anyone with family members from the condominium who are either safe or still missing is urged to call 305-614-1819 to account for them. She kept telling me what to do. GARCIA-NAVARRO: Susana, I'm so sorry for everything you've lost. Searchers for a second day combed through the massive pile of debris following the collapse of a Florida condo building, as officials vowed to keep looking for anyone who may still . GARCIA-NAVARRO: You did the only thing you could. All content Copyright 2000 - 2023 WSVN-TV. Instead she's been sleeping in a chair, constantly thinking of the victims who couldn't escape. I couldnt tell where it was coming from.. The Miami-Dade Police Department is leading an investigation into the incident. They have no luggage. Direktor noted that he hadn't been warned of any structural issues with the building or about the land it was built on. (AP), LIVE UPDATES: SURFSIDE CONDO BUILDING COLLAPSE. She still hears the screams from that night. For now they are staying at a nearby hotel, the floor of their room cluttered with items donated by friends and strangers. Rescue workers continued digging feverishly for a sixth day Tuesday, after stressing Monday that they could still find survivors in the rubble of a collapsed Surfside condo building. Have you been able to sort of gather and sort of think about what's next? But her mother, Angela Gonzalez, and her sister, Deven Gonzalez, did survive. MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Two residents of Champlain Towers South are sharing their stories of survival, with one resident describing what he felt inside the building, and one who said his girlfriend wanting to spend more time with him is what saved his life. Legal Statement. GARCIA-NAVARRO: As you just heard there, Ms. Alvarez said that the residents of Champlain Towers were reassured by a representative from the town of Surfside that the building was safe. I know it. Unbeknownst to them the building was about to break away., Little fingers and screaming led a dog walker to a boy trapped in the collapsed Florida condo rubble. "That was a very difficult night . By Wilson Wong. She then went down to the garage to discover it was flooded with water upto her ankles. I won't leave. Nine of the 98 Surfside victims may have SURVIVED the initial condo collapse: Fire rescue logs show woman was alive in rubble for TEN HOURS. About three dozen people were able to escape from the portion of the building that remained standing. He thought the ordeal could not be real, but he said he knew it was real when dust fell on his face and saw more of it out of his window. Required fields are marked *. appreciated. And I ran out the front door. TALLAHASSEE June 24 will mark one year since the tragic partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building thatclaimed the lives of 98 residentsin Surfside. Town leaders fuming at obstacles to investigation, aim to sue county, Florida judge approves $83 million settlement for property loss in Surfside condo collapse, DeSantis signs condo reform bill a response to Surfside building collapse into law, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. "Of course, it's not ruled out," she added. "She lived there for a long time," said Adam Schwartzbaum, her attorney, "and she was planning to live there for the rest of her life. Nicholas Balboa said he had been walking his dog past midnight on June 24 when he felt the ground shake and saw that a major section of the condo complex had collapsed. It was like 'Titanic,'" she said. Rodriguez helped neighbors escape to a second-floor balcony where firefighters helped them to the ground. And there were two men and a young man with us, and they were helping us. Gabriel Nir narrowly escaped a first-floor apartment with his mother and 15-year-old sister. "There's got to be a reason we came back later. One unit over, and I am gone, Rosenthal added. It was like a sandstorm. "That number is way up from the original count, and so we're very, very grateful for the hard work of our firefighters on the scene," Levine Cava told ABC News' Cecelia Vega in an interview Friday on "GMA. June 24: At around 1:20 a.m., while many residents were sleeping, the condo tower shakes and then partially collapses, destroying about 55 apartment units. A total of 20 agencies are offering assistance to families affected by the collapse. Areas where land is subsiding are more likely to experience more serious effects of sea level rise, according to the study, which was published in the international journal Ocean & Coastal Management. I lived there by myself. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories, Champlain Towers South near Miami partially collapsed, Reports: 3 children dead, 2 wounded in attack at Texas home, Kellyanne Conway, George Conway To Divorce After Decadeslong Marriage: Report, School punished teen girl for working out in sports bra in 100-degree Texas heat, ACLU says, U.S. court won't require FAA to make airplane seat size, spacing rules, 'Extremely dangerous': Spike in illegal crossings at Canada-Vermont border has feds sounding alarm, SoCal in for cool start to weekend, butlight showers make brief return, Friday Nightcap: Winners & losers of the week, Two boats, carrying 48 Cuban migrants, make landing on Dry Tortugas in Florida Keys, Big rigs flipped by strong winds during severe weather. ALVAREZ: Yes, I go every day. I could hear people crying and screaming for help, Lopez told the Herald. Initially, 150 people were thought to be missing. And we'll have more details on that, plus more information on the collapse and what it might mean for other similarly constructed buildings in the area elsewhere in the show. What we know about the building that partially collapsed in Surfside, Florida. The National Institute of Standards and Technology,the main federal agency conducting the probe, has said it expects the investigation to take at least two years, as every piece of evidence must be thoroughly analyzed, and all hypotheses evaluated,according to its latest statement. Sharon Schechter, 60, described her escape to WPLG , saying she believes she was only one of two people who survived from her floor when the 12-story oceanfront Champlain Towers South near Miami partially . It wasn't until they opened the door to the hallway that they realized what had actually happened. All Rights Reserved. Updated on: July 14, 2021 / 9:25 PM The death . Its not known. Sometimes, if were not sure if its blunt force trauma, the doctor will choose to put the general overarching event, Darren Caprara, director of operations at the medical examiners office, told USA Today about using building collapse as the cause of death. However, NPR has been able to confirm that the meeting did take place in 2018. The images that I saw looks like some place that had a bomb, Figueiredo said. And their daughter was staying there. Thanks for contacting us. Its about the lives that are there..