Search for victims at collapsed Miami apartment block is officially ended
The search for victims in a collapsed Miami apartment block has officially finished, the city’s fire and rescue department says.
Champlain Towers South, in the Miami suburb of Surfside, collapsed in the early hours of 24 June, killing at least 97 people.
It is believed that one victim is still unaccounted for and police will continue to look through the debris for personal effects.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said: “At this step in the recovery process it has become increasingly challenging to identify victims.
“We are relying heavily on the work of the medical examiner’s office and the scientific, technical process of identifying human remains.”
She described the search and recovery workers as “true superheroes”.
During the four-week search, no survivors were found and officials formally gave up hope of finding anyone alive on 7 July.
Scott Dean, leader of one of the two task forces that worked in 12-hour shifts at the disaster site, said: “Providing closure to families was the ultimate test of everybody here.”
The Surfside Wall of Hope & Memorial honours those who died in the tragedy. Pic: AP
Fire Chief Alan Cominsky added: “I couldn’t be prouder of the men and women that represent Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.”
The remaining section of the 12-storey, 136-unit apartment block was demolished about 10 days after the first section collapsed.
The cause of the collapse is still not clear but concerns had been raised about structural problems in the 40-year-old building in an engineering report done three years ago.
The problems described in that report are the focus of several inquiries, including a grand jury investigation.
Nearby buildings are also being inspected for signs of poor construction or structural weaknesses.
Thousands of people gathered in various cities across the US as protests against Donald Trump and Elon Musk took place in all 50 states on Saturday.
Around 1,200 demonstrations were planned in locations including Washington DC, New York City and West Palm Beach, Florida – just miles away from where the US president has this weekend played golf.
The “Hands Off!” protests were against the Trump administration’s handling of government downsizing, human rights and the economy, among other issues.
In Washington DC, protesters streamed on the grass in front of the Washington Monument, where one person carried a banner which read: “Make democracy great again.”
Thousands gathered in Washington DC to rally against various Trump policies. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
Another protester took aim at Mr Trump‘s handling of Russia and Ukraine, with a placard that read: “Stop Putin’s puppets from destroying America.”
Tesla boss Mr Musk also featured on many signs due to his role in controversial government cuts as head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Demonstrators in NYC. Pic: AP
People marching in Atlanta, Georgia. Pic: Reuters
A rally in Vermont. Pic: The Brattleboro Reformer via AP
Terry Klein, a retired biomedical scientist, said she drove to the rally to protest Mr Trump’s policies on “everything from immigration to the DOGE stuff to the tariffs this week, to education”.
“I mean, our whole country is under attack, all of our institutions, all the things that make America what it is,” she added.
A drone view of the protest at the Utah State Capitol building. Pic Reuters
A protester sports a Handmaid’s Tale costume. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
Some at the various protests carried Ukrainian flags, while others sported rainbow attire and waved rainbow flags in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
Other protesters wore Palestinian keffiyeh scarves and carried “Free Palestine” signs.
Thousands marched in New York City’s midtown Manhattan and in Boston, Massachusetts, while hundreds gathered in the sunshine outside the Utah State Capitol building in Salt Lake City, and in the rain outside the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio.
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Mr Trump – who shook financial markets with his tariffs announcement this week – spent the day in Florida, playing a round of golf before returning to his Mar-a-Lago residence.
People protest in Manhattan. Pic: Reuters
Activists in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Pic: AP
Some four miles from Mar-a-Lago, more than 400 people gathered – and drivers honked their horns in support of protesters who held up signs including one which read: “Markets tank, Trump golfs.”
The White House has said Mr Trump plans to go golfing again on Sunday.
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