Rest of the partially collapsed Surfside condo demolished

WASHINGTON: The remaining portion of the Champlain Towers South condo building in Surfside, has been demolished, Sputnik reported, quoting the The Miami Herald report.

The controlled demolition occurred at around 10.30 pm local time on Sunday (02.30 GMT on Monday). According to the newspaper, it took six blasts to get the rest of the partially collapsed condo to tumble to the ground.

Earlier, the Miami-Dade Police Department said that the demolition of Champlain Towers South was going to take place late on Sunday night, between 10.00 pm (02.00 GMT on Monday) and 3.00 am.

The police urged local residents to close all windows, doors and air intakes in their homes and cover any other openings that might allow dust resulting from the demolition to enter their residence.

The tragedy in Surfside occurred early on June 24, when the 12-story residential building partially collapsed. The death toll in the incident stands at 24, while more than 120 people are still missing.

Miami-Dade County authorities said the search-and-rescue operation in Surfside was put on hold at 4 pm local time (20.00 GMT) on Saturday in preparation for the demolition that was expected on Sunday evening or Monday morning, before Tropical Storm Elsa impacts the weather in Miami-Dade County.

-- BERNAMA