Grand Jury Will Probe Surfside Condo Collapse

Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said her office will pursue a grand jury investigation into the collapse of Champlain Towers South Condominium in Surfside, Fla. that has left at least 18 people dead and more than 140 unaccounted for.

Fernandez Rundle said she has met with engineers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is conducting a separate federal investigation into the collapse.

“However, this is a matter of extreme public importance, and as the State Attorney elected to keep this community safe, I will not wait,” Fernandez Rundle said.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has also ordered an emergency audit of county buildings 40 years and older.

Search and rescue teams were forced to halt operations early July 1 due to structural concerns at the site. Shifting of concrete floor slabs and movement in a large column led to the work stoppage.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Alan Cominsky called the site a “very, very unsafe environment,” but pledged to continue search-and-rescue operations when safe to do so. Cominsky did not give a timeline of when first responders will return to the site.

“We’ll have a meeting the structural engineers and they’ll develop different plans so we can evaluate and see what’s best,” he said.