A total of 27 people have been found in a collapsed residential building in Surfside, Florida, officials said officials on Monday.
The fate of another 118 people is still unknown.
Rescuers continue to search the ruins of the building using special equipment.
The 12-storey building, built 40 years ago, partially collapsed on June 24. Dozens of people were rescued from the ruins.
The cause of the accident is still unclear, but the authorities have released a report issued by construction consultancy Morabito in 2018, which did not say the building could collapse, but acknowledged that it needed to be repaired to maintain “structural integrity”.
Inspectors have warned of significant problems found in the concrete block under the pool on the ground floor, as well as cracking of the concrete in the underground car park.
“If the waterproofing is not replaced in the near future, the degree of concrete damage will expand exponentially,” the report said. It assumes that the problems are largely due to the corrosive effects of Florida’s salty air over many years.
Following the collapse of the building in Surfside, residential buildings are being inspected throughout Florida, and on Friday, as a precautionary measure, authorities ordered the evacuation of people from a 1972 apartment building in North Miami Beach that had structural problems.
– .
