This photo shows the 156-unit Crestview Towers, Friday, July 2, 2021 in North Miami Beach, Fla. The city of North Miami Beach ordered the evacuation of Crestview Towers, a condominium building Friday after a review found unsafe conditions about 5 miles from the site of last week’s deadly collapse in South Florida.
The city of North Miami Beach ordered the evacuation of a condominium building Friday after a review found unsafe conditions about 5 miles from the site of last week’s deadly collapse in South Florida.
FILE – In this July 2, 2021, file photo, a dog aiding in the search walks past a team of Israeli search and rescue personnel, left, atop the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Fla. While hundreds of rescuers search desperately for survivors within the rubble of the collapsed condominium, a smaller cadre of mental health counselors are also deploying to help families and other loved ones cope with the tragedy.
FILE – In this June 29, 2021, file photo, mourners visit a makeshift memorial near the site of the collapsed condominium in Surfside, Fla. While hundreds of rescuers search desperately for survivors within the rubble of the collapsed condominium, a smaller cadre of mental health counselors are also deploying to help families and other loved ones cope with the tragedy.
Search and rescue personnel work atop the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of victims remain missing more than a week after it partially collapsed, Friday, July 2, 2021, in Surfside, Fla.
Workers transport a stretcher with remains extricated from the rubble, near the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of people remain missing more than a week after it partially collapsed, Friday, July 2, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. Rescue efforts resumed Thursday evening after being halted for most of the day over concerns about the stability of the remaining structure.
Search and rescue personnel remove remains on a stretcher as they work atop the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo building where scores of people remain missing more than a week after it partially collapsed, Friday, July 2, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. Rescue efforts resumed Thursday evening after being halted for most of the day over concerns about the stability of the remaining structure.
From left, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel Fai Yeung and Chief Melanie C. Adams visit the makeshift memorial setup near the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside, Fla., Thursday, July 1, 2021. Search is paused because of structural concerns officials say. The apartment building partially collapsed on Thursday, June 24.
Personal belongings are seen amid debris dangling from the remains of apartments sheared in half, in the still standing portion of the Champlain Towers South condo building, more than a week after it partially collapsed, Friday, July 2, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. Rescue efforts on the rubble pile below resumed Thursday evening after being halted for most of the day over concerns about the stability of the remaining structure.
The number of people missing in the Florida condominium collapse fell substantially Friday, from 145 to 128, after duplicate names were eliminated and some residents reported missing turned up safe, officials said.
Members of the South Florida Urban Search and Rescue team walk near the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of victims remain missing more than a week after it partially collapsed, Saturday, July 3, 2021, in Surfside, Fla.
Evalyn Fregene holds a bouquet of flowers as she pays her respects at a makeshift memorial near the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of victims remain missing more than a week after it partially collapsed, Saturday, July 3, 2021, in Surfside, Fla.
Miami Beach police chaplain Omy Llaneras, left, stands with a woman at a makeshift memorial near the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of victims remain missing more than a week after it partially collapsed, Saturday, July 3, 2021, in Surfside, Fla.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, left, and his wife Casey leave flags at a makeshift memorial near the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of victims remain missing more than a week after it partially collapsed, Saturday, July 3, 2021, in Surfside, Fla.
A Miami-Dade County Police boat patrols in front of the Champlain Towers South condo building, where search and rescue efforts continue more than a week after the building partially collapsed, Friday, July 2, 2021, in Surfside, Fla.
Search and rescue personnel help a colleague, as they work atop the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of victims remain missing more than a week after it partially collapsed, Friday, July 2, 2021, in Surfside, Fla.
Miami Beach resident Tracey Lynne visits a makeshift memorial near the site of the collapsed Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside, Fla., on Saturday, July 3, 2021.
Rescue workers continue to look through rubble for survivors at the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South Condo building in Surfside, Fla., on Saturday, July 3, 2021.
Personal belongings dangle from inside the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South Condo building in Surfside, Fla., on Saturday, July 3, 2021.
Rescue teams use jack hammers to chip through debris and rubble as they continue to look for survivors at the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South Condo building in Surfside, Fla., on Saturday, July 3, 2021.
Rescue teams use jack hammers to chip through debris and rubble as they continue to look for survivors at the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South Condo building in Surfside, Fla., on Saturday, July 3, 2021.
Rescue teams use jack hammers to chip through debris and rubble as they continue to look for survivors at the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South Condo building in Surfside, Fla., on Saturday, July 3, 2021.
In this satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies heavy-lift cranes are used to aid in the search and recovery operation at the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South condo building on Saturday, July 3, 2021, in Surfside, Fla.
SURFSIDE, Fla. (AP) — Rescuers suspended their search for the living and the dead in the rubble of a collapsed South Florida condo building Saturday to allow crews to start preparing the unstable remainder of the structure for demolition ahead of a tropical storm.
The search and rescue mission was halted in the afternoon as workers began the precarious business of boring holes to hold explosives in the concrete of the still-standing portion of the Champlain Towers South tower in Surfside, Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah told relatives awaiting word on missing loved ones.
In the closed-door briefing, Jadallah said the suspension was a necessary safety measure because the drilling could cause the structure to fail. If that were to happen, he said, “It’s just going to collapse without warning.”
But in video that one of the relatives livestreamed on social media, one of them was heard calling it “devastating” that the search was on pause. She asked whether rescuers could at least work the perimeter of the site so as not “to stop the operation for so many painful hours.”
Also Saturday, the confirmed death toll from the partial collapse of the 12-story building rose to 24 with the discovery of two more bodies. There were 121 people still unaccounted for.
Concerns had been mounting over the past week that the damaged structure was at risk of failure, endangering the crews below. The search in adjacent areas of the collapse site was curtailed, and shifts detected by monitors early Thursday prompted a 15-hour suspension of the entire effort until engineers determined it was safe to resume.
