Federal investigators release cause of Surfside condo collapse

SURFSIDE, Fla. — Nearly five years after the collapse of a Surfside condo tower that killed 98 people, federal investigators have released their findings on what caused the deadly incident.

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The new technical findings report is indicating initial column failures at Champlain Towers South occurred three weeks prior to the fatal collapse, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s National Construction Safety Team.

According to co-investigators, in early June 2021 connections between the garage columns and the pool deck failed.

Those failures would prove to be catastrophic, claiming 98 lives.

The report finds that over a three-week period prior to the collapse, initial failures caused cracks to grow and weight to be redistributed in the pool deck, causing the weight to transfer to adjacent slab columns that were not strong enough to support the weight.

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That led to part of the 12-story Champlain Towers South condo coming down during the overnight hours of June 24, 2021.

First responders immediately began working around the clock to locate survivors in a search that lasted several days.

A memorial to the victims has stood at the site in the time since as officials and developers have debated what to do with the property.

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