MIAMI. The remains of the skyscraper, which had partially collapsed near Miami Beach, were blown up on Monday night. Pictures from Surfside in the US state of Florida showed how the ruined skyscraper collapsed after several explosions and released a huge cloud of dust. The action went as planned, said a district spokesman.
The residential complex with 130 residential units collapsed on June 24th for reasons that were not yet clear. Since then, detection dogs, special cameras and heavy equipment have been used to search for victims. 24 dead have now been recovered. More than 120 people are still missing. However, it is still unclear how many people were in the building near the beach at the time of the accident.
The demolition was due to take place in a few weeks, but it had been brought forward. The instability of the ruin was dangerous and hindered the progress of the rescue operation in the collapsed part, said District Mayor Daniella Levine Cava at the weekend. There were also safety concerns about the foothills of the tropical storm “Elsa”, which arrived yesterday.
