Florida official said building was safe despite warning

This article is more than 12 months old

Jun 29, 2021 06:00 am

MIAMI: An inspector had assured residents of a high-rise condominium in Surfside, Florida, that their building was sound a month after an engineering report warned of structural damage that required prompt repair in 2018, US media reported.

The Champlain Towers South building partially collapsed in the early hours of Thursday as residents slept.

The death toll stood at nine on Sunday, and more than 150 people were missing as rescue teams picked through the rubble without detecting signs of life.

What caused nearly half the 12-storey, 156-unit building to cave in has yet to be determined but a 2018 inspection found major structural deterioration in the parking garage beneath the 40-year-old tower, accordingly to an engineer's report.

But later, an inspector for Surfside, which is near Miami, met residents of the building and assured them that it was "in very good shape", according to the minutes of a November 2018 meeting reported first by National Public Radio and then by several other US media outlets. - REUTERS