Firefighters end rescue mission from Surfside condo tower collapse

Firefighters in Surfside, Florida, have ended the recovery mission from the June collapse of a condo tower that killed nearly 100 people.

The conclusion of the mission comes one day ahead of the one-month anniversary of the collapse of Champlain Towers South. Ninety-seven people were killed when the tower spontaneously fell on the morning of June 24.

In a letter to Miami-Dade and Surfside officials, structural engineer Allyn Kilsheimer, who was hired to find out why the building collapsed, said the site might be unsafe due to a perimeter wall near Collins Avenue could fail, the Associated Press reported.

In the letter, Kilsheimer recommended that an earthen berm be built to support the walls because parts of the street could collapse.

According to the Miami Herald, Miami-Dade County officials said crews would be brought in to shore up the remaining underground walls.

Collins Avenue, which has been closed to traffic since June 24, could be reopening soon, the newspaper reported.

The announcement comes a day after Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman said in a hearing that victims and families who suffered losses in the collapse would be initially compensated a minimum of $150 million.

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