There’s an extra layer of anguish and tragedy attached to the 6.24 Surfside condominium building collapse. Right now the official death toll is 16, which apparently leaves 147 residents unaccounted for.
A 6.30 N.Y. Daily News report states that “officials are still trying to confirm whether all of them were actually in the building when half of the structure crumbled [early in the morning on Thursday, 6.24].” What are the odds, honestly, that this or that resident might not have been in the building and is currently alive and well (great!) but has decided not to reveal his/her situation to friends, family or authorities? What are the odds?
Rescue crews are naturally doing all they can to find potential survivors, but they have to move carefully and methodically so as not to cause an air pocket or haven space of some kind to collapse…a haven that a survivor might be still alive inside…if crews move too hastily they might inadvertently cause someone’s death. But of course, they’ve been searching for six days now, and the odds of a survivor hanging on for six days without food or water…well, the odds are narrowing. A National Library of Medicine article states that a person can survive for 8 to 21 days without food and water.
Remember Oliver Stone‘s World Trade Center (’06), and the terrible ordeal of Port Authority cop John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage) and Will Jimeno (Michael Pena)? In actuality those guys were pulled out of the rubble in less than 24 hours. Imagine being buried for three, four, five days or longer.
“Please join me in continuing to pray for those who lost their lives in this unthinkable tragedy and all those families who are grieving and all of those who are waiting, and waiting, and waiting for news,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.