Rescuers rotate in 12-hour shifts; none severely injured
Hundreds of Miami-Dade County fire rescue workers rotated in 12-hour shifts at the collapse site, searching for any signs of survivors. No rescue workers have been severely injured, but one worker took a 25-foot tumble, officials said.
"Every time there is an action, there is a reaction," said Raide Jadallah, assistant chief of rescue operations for the Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue Team, describing what he called a complex search-and-rescue operation.
Family members saw the danger firsthand Sunday when authorities allowed them to tour the site. "They witnessed a rescuer tumble 25 feet down the mound," he said.
Mayor Burkett said Tuesday that debris from the shattered edge of the part of the building that still stands fell overnight, causing the western part of the structure to be cordoned off because it was too dangerous to work there.
A portion of the tower that is standing remains a threat to first responders working directly below, said Alan Cominsky, Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue chief.
"We are constantly monitoring (the structure)," he said. "We have seismic graphs, lasers that are monitoring certain cracks on the building. ... Right now, we have been reassured, based on what we have seen, that the building has had no movement. So that's why we continue working."
Prosecutors pursue investigation, federal agency to conduct extensive probe
Prosecutors in Florida will pursue a grand jury investigation into the deadly collapse, officials said Tuesday.
Levine Cava said at a news conference that she fully supports such an investigation. State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said she would bring the matter before grand jurors soon.
A federal investigation into what caused the Champlain Towers South collapse is already underway, officials said Monday afternoon at a news conference.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said he spoke with representatives of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, who will conduct an investigation into the causes of the collapse. The NIST, founded in 1901, investigated the 9/11 terrorist attacks and other incidents, including the Rhode Island nightclub fire in 2003, a tornado in Joplin, Missouri, in 2011 and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017.
"They have never done just a straight building collapse that wasn't involved with either hazards or acts of terrorism," DeSantis said. "This is going to be something that is important, and it is something that is going to be very thorough. ... It is going to take a long time. That is the kind of horizon they work on.''
DeSantis said more immediate investigations conducted by Miami-Dade County and the town of Surfside could shed some light more quickly and alluded to the possibility of state regulatory changes if necessary after those assessments.
"If there are things that need to be done at the state level, we obviously would want to get information as soon as possible," DeSantis said.