Rescue efforts at collapsed Miami apartment building paused amid stability fears

Rescue efforts at a partially collapsed Florida apartment building have been halted due to concern about the stability of the remaining structure.

Search crews that have been on top of the pile of rubble for the last week stopped work shortly after 2am local time, Miami-Dade county mayor Daniella Levine Cava told a news conference.

The rescue operations were called off on the day US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visited the devastated community.

The president’s visit comes a week after Champlain Towers South, a 12-storey beachfront building in Surfside, suddenly came crashing down.

Searchers going through the ruins found the remains of six people on Wednesday, bringing the number of confirmed dead to 18.

The number of residents unaccounted for stands at 145.

During a meeting with families on Wednesday, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue assistant chief Raide Jadallah said officials are concerned about the stability of part of the building.

“What we know is that the columns on the east side of the building are kind of, of concern, not compromised, but just right now of concern,” Mr Jadallah said.

“Hypothetically, worst-case scenario: if these columns are truly really bad, we are worried they could collapse right back into the parking garage.”

Families were asking if they could add tensions rods but he said structural engineers say that is not possible.

Mr Biden spent two hours with the families of those you have been killed or are missing.

“This is life and death,” the president told a briefing.

“We can do it, just the simple act of everyone doing what needs to be done, makes a difference.

“There’s going to be a lot of pain and anxiety and suffering and even the need for psychological help in the days and months that follow. And so, we’re not going anywhere.”

Rescue work was halted after crews noticed several expansions in cracks they had been monitoring. They also observed 6in to 12in of movement in a large column hanging from the structure “that could fall and cause damage to support columns” in the underground parking garage, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Alan Cominsky said.

In addition, they noticed movement in the debris pile and slight movement in some concrete floor slabs “that could cause additional failure of the building”, he said.

Officials will work with structural engineers and other experts to “develop options” to continue rescue operations, Mr Cominsky said.

Critical points around the site have been monitored with sensors since the rescue operation began, said Scott Nacheman, a structures specialist with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

He said there were alarming indications of movement on Wednesday night at three locations.

“What was of specific concern was that over the last six days we had not seen that type of significant movement, or in some locations any movement in those elements of the structure,” he said during a briefing for family members.

Heavy equipment in the rubble pile caused vibrations, according to Mr Nacheman. Rain has also been entering exposed parts of the building, saturating items and adding weight to the floors.

During a private meeting with family members, Mr Biden drew on his own experiences with grief to try to comfort them. His first wife and baby daughter were killed in a car crash and decades later he lost an adult son to brain cancer.

“I just wish there was something I could do to ease the pain,” he said in a video posted on Instagram by Jacqueline Patoka, a woman who was close to a couple and their daughter who are still missing.

Mr Biden spoke of wanting to switch places with a lost or missing loved one. “The waiting, the waiting is unbearable,” he said.

Miami-Dade County mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the search-and-rescue operation will continue as soon as it is safe to do so.

The cause of the collapse is under investigation.

A 2018 engineering report found that the building’s ground-floor pool deck was resting on a concrete slab that had “major structural damage” and needed extensive repairs.

The report also found “abundant cracking” of concrete columns, beams and walls in the parking garage.

Two months before the building came down, the president of its board wrote a letter to residents saying structural problems identified in the 2018 inspection had “gotten significantly worse” and that major repairs would cost at least $15.5 million (£11.27 million).