- Title: Surfside strong - friends and neighbors remember victims of building collapse
- Date: 28th June 2021
- Summary: SURFSIDE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 27, 2021) (REUTERS) MEMORIAL FOR VICTIMS ON FENCE WITH COLLAPSED BUILDING IN REAR COMMUNITY MEMBERS AT MEMORIAL MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 27, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) TANNER LAKEY, 29-YEAR-OLD LAWYER AND AREA RESIDENT, SAYING: "I'm still hopeful. They haven't been confirmed dead but they haven't been confirmed found either. So definitely still on the hopeful side but Edgar was a friend of mine from law school. Him and his wife and daughter lived in the building." SURFSIDE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 27, 2021) (REUTERS) FLOWERS AND BANNERS ON FENCE FLOWERS AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF VICTIMS ON FENCE MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 27, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) TANNER LAKEY, 29-YEAR-OLD LAWYER AND AREA RESIDENT, SAYING: "Definitely a stand-up guy. Not only was I in law school with him but I also go to church with him as well, our local church down here in Miami. So just a family man, just hard worker, loved community but loved serving people in any way he could." SURFSIDE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 27, 2021) (REUTERS) YELLOW FLOWERS ON FENCE FLOWERS AND VASE ON FENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ARIEL ESTEBAN, 46-YEAR-OLD AREA RESIDENT ORIGINALLY FROM ARGENTINA, SAYING: "Well, they're still looking for them but several days have gone by and I think it's getting difficult. But well, there's hope. As long as they're searching, there's hope." SURFSIDE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 28, 2021) (REUTERS) VIEW OF COLLAPSED BUILDING AND U.S. FLAG AS POLICE OFFICER WALKS IN FOREGROUND SURFSIDE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 27, 2021) (REUTERS) FRONT OF COLLAPSED BUILDING BAL HARBOUR, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 28, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) JULIO RUMBAUT, 69-YEAR-OLD SURFSIDE RESIDENT AND MEDIA CONSULTANT, SAYING: "Well one couple who lived in the building (referring to Champlain Towers East) had her father living in the South building (that collapsed) and she knows she lost him." SURFSIDE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 27, 2021) (REUTERS) VIEW OF CRANE AND COLLAPSED BUILDING FROM BEACH CLOSE-UP OF DESTROYED BUILDING FROM BEACH BACK OF VEHICLE READING 'PRAY 4 SURFSIDE' 'SURFSIDE STRONG' BAL HARBOUR, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 28, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) JULIO RUMBAUT, 69-YEAR-OLD SURFSIDE RESIDENT AND MEDIA CONSULTANT, SAYING: "I thought to myself, maybe across the street it's a small building, (maybe) it dropped a terrace or something. When I went out, I decided to go out, I went to the front of the building and a policeman was coming by, sweating bullets. And I said, 'What happened?' And he said, 'A building fell.' And I said, 'It's right there!' And he said, 'No, no, look at the back. It's gone.' And I went to the back of the building at the beach, and it was gone. It was gone." SURFSIDE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 28, 2021) (REUTERS) VIEW FROM WATER OF COLLAPSED BUILDING WITH CRANES WORKING VIEW OF BUILDINGS ON SHORE WITH COLLAPSED BUILDING AND CRANES IN MIDDLE VIEW OF COLLAPSED BUILDING WITH CRANES FROM WATER SURFSIDE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 27, 2021) (REUTERS) VIEW OF FLOWERS PLACED ON BARRIER IN BEACH WITH PEOPLE LOOKING OUT AT WATER
- Embargoed: 13th July 2021 00:22
- Keywords:
- Location: BAL HARBOUR, MIAMI BEACH AND SURFSIDE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES
- City: BAL HARBOUR, MIAMI BEACH AND SURFSIDE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA001EJBEMH3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Memorials have sprung up across Surfside, Florida as residents hope and pray for survivors in the wreckage.
With search-and-rescue teams still sifting through the rubble of a collapsed Florida condominium building, friends and rescuers hoped for survivors as authorities by Monday (June 28) had identified eight of the 10 confirmed victims of the disaster, with 151 people still missing.
Twenty-nine-year old Tanner Lakey said he is connected to two people who are missing in the search.
"I'm still hopeful. They haven't been confirmed dead but they haven't been confirmed found either. So definitely still on the hopeful side but Edgar (Gonzalez) was a friend of mine from law school. Him and his wife and daughter lived in the building," he said.
"Definitely a stand-up guy. Not only was I in law school with him but I also go to church with him as well, our local church down here in Miami. So just a family man, just hard worker, loved community but loved serving people in any way he could," Lakey said.
Gonzalez's wife and daughter were both rescued, according to The Washington Post.
Crews were using cranes, dogs and infrared scans as they looked for signs of life amid the ruins, hoping air pockets may have formed underneath the concrete that could be keeping some people alive.
Forty-six year old Ariel Gonzalez said he knew a couple from his native Argentina who were missing, but didn't want to disclose their names to protect the family's privacy. They had travelled to Florida to combine a beach vacation with vaccinations for COVID-19.
"Well, they're still looking for them but several days have gone by and I think it's getting difficult. But well, there's hope. As long as they're searching, there's hope," he said.
Sixty-nine-year-old Julio Rumbaut, a former television executive, lives in Champlain Towers East, just a few doors down from Champlain Towers South which collapsed. He said the father of a woman from his living is among the missing.
She told Rumbaut she had a feeling deep in her heart that her father is gone.
"Well one couple who lived in the building (referring to Champlain Towers East) had her father living in the South building (that collapsed) and she knows she lost him," he said.
Rumbaut was in his apartment on Thursday night when the South Tower collapsed 400 feet away from his building.
He awoke around 1:30am to an alert from an app that told him a building had collapsed on Collins Avenue.
"I thought to myself, maybe across the street it's a small building, (maybe) it dropped a terrace or something. When I went out, I decided to go out, I went to the front of the building and a policeman was coming by, sweating bullets. And I said, 'What happened?' And he said, 'A building fell.' And I said, 'It's right there!' And he said, 'No, no, look at the back. It's gone.' And I went to the back of the building at the beach, and it was gone. It was gone."
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