It probably had the same materials. It probably had the same plans, and you know, people are asking me, is the building safe . And i cant tell them it is safe. I cant tell them that. Reporter the families affected by this, fred, are not only wondering about the conditions of their loved ones but also whether this could have been prevented, and were getting new details today that shine a light on the condition of the building before it collapsed. Actually, dating back to 2018. A Structural Field survey that was conducted of the condo warned of cracking in some of the columns that were in the pool deck. An engineer arguing that Major Repairs were going to be needed, repairs that were apparently going to begin before the unthinkable happened as we take a look at these images of rescue crews literally standing atop 11 stories of what used to be homes. We have a full team on the ground right now as the search for survivors continues. Lets start with cnns randi kaye. Shes not far from where
Welcome to cnns special live coverage of the tragedy near miami. Im wolf blitzer, near the scene of the 12story condo Building Collapse here in surfside, florida. And im pamela brown in washington. We have a lot of Breaking News to cover this hour, pamela. Well do it together. The Structural Engineering company that inspected the Champlain Towers in 2018 says they also gave estimates back in june of 2020 for the buildings 40year recertification. The consultant only provides Engineering Consulting services, not repair or restoration contracting, the statement said. And they also stated, and im quoting, we are deeply troubled by this Building Collapse and are working closely with the investigating authorities to understand why the structure failed. As we do so, we also continue to pray for all those impacted by this tragic event. Tonight, surfside officials are warning residents of a Sister Building, the Champlain Towers north, and theyre warning them to evacuate now. We have a full team
What we have learned is that three years ago, an engineer warned of major structural damage at the complex. And now there are concerns about the condos Sister Building a block away. Surfsides mayor says residents there should evacuate out of an abundance of caution. Family members wait to hear word of loves ones as rescuers are bringing in dogs to sniff through the debris. Cnns wolf blitzer joins us from surfside. Wolf, the big news today, an engineer warned three years ago that there were major structural problems at this complex. Wolf, what do you see down there on your end of things . What you see when you get here, jim, is so much worse than you can even imagine with the pictures, because you see that rubble, it is so, so heartbreaking, just to wonder what happened and why it happened. Its heartbreaking all around. Very, very sad. And i suspect things are about to get even worse as we watch what happens in the coming hours. Experts are cautioning that it may take months, months to
What we have learned is that three years ago, an engineer warned of major structural damage at the complex. And now there are concerns about the condos Sister Building a block away. Surfsides mayor says residents there should evacuate out of an abundance of caution. Family members wait to hear word of loves ones as rescuers are bringing in dogs to sniff through the debris. Cnns wolf blitzer joins us from surfside. Wolf, the big news today, an engineer warned three years ago that there were major structural problems at this complex. Wolf, what do you see down there on your end of things . What you see when you get here, jim, is so much worse than you can even imagine with the pictures, because you see that rubble, it is so, so heartbreaking, just to wonder what happened and why it happened. Its heartbreaking all around. Very, very sad. And i suspect things are about to get even worse as we watch what happens in the coming hours. Experts are cautioning that it may take months, months to
More than 60 hours since the collapse took place. Rescue teams are battling fires which greatly complicated the effort to find survivors. We are facing incredible difficulties with the fire. The fire has been going on for awhile. It is a very deep fire. It is extremely difficult to locate the source of the fire. There are new concerns about the condos sister building, nearly identical building located a block away from the collapse. Officials are saying that building should be evacuated until a structural investigation can be done. Has the same name, same developer, probably had the same materials. Probably had the same plans. And people are asking me is the building safe. I cant tell them it is safe. I cant tell them that. One of the Big Questions thats outstanding is how this could happen. Were getting details today about exactly what may have been happening in the pool deck of the building. Structural field survey was done in 2018 and warned of cracking in certain columns. An engine