After house collapse near Miami: Biden donates consolation at the scene of the accident

US President Biden has visited the disaster site of the devastating partial collapse of a residential complex near Miami. He tried to comfort the relatives. How the tragedy came about is still unclear.

Even a week after the partial collapse of a residential complex in the US state of Florida, the cause of the accident remains unclear. There are various theories, but no clear answer to the question of how the twelve-story building collapsed, stressed US President Joe Biden during a visit to the scene of the accident.

He promised a thorough investigation into the Surfside incident near Miami. This should also ensure that such a disaster does not repeat itself. Biden was informed about the current status of the rescue operation from officials in Surfside. He also promised the full support of the federal government. He and his wife Jill also met rescue workers to thank them.

Rescue work temporarily interrupted

Shortly before Biden’s arrival, the search for people buried was temporarily stopped due to concerns about the stability of the part of the building that was still standing. In the evening, however, the authorities said that the salvage work had resumed after detailed tests by the engineers. The remaining part of the building should be demolished, but “the search and rescue operation remains our top priority,” said the mayor of the Miami-Dade district, Daniella Levin Cava.

During his visit, Biden devoted most of his time to meet survivors and relatives of missing persons. “You’re going through hell,” he said. The relatives know that the chances of survival decrease every day. Many are also worried because they fear that they will not even be able to properly bury their loved ones. “It’s bad to lose someone. But the difficult thing, the really difficult thing is not knowing whether someone survived or not,” said Biden. The conversations with the relatives moved him deeply, he said.

Finally only gloomy news from the helpers

Before returning to Washington, Biden and his wife Jill stopped at an improvised memorial wall near the site of the accident, looked at photos of the missing and put down a bouquet of flowers.

The building with around 130 residential units partially collapsed last week on Thursday night. Almost 150 people are still missing. However, it is unclear whether they were actually all in the skyscraper at the time of the accident. It is feared that the number of deaths is likely to increase significantly.

Shortly after the partial collapse of the large residential complex, emergency teams were initially able to save several dozen people. In the past few days, however, the authorities have only announced gloomy news. The number of fatalities recovered from the rubble rose steadily and is now 18.