Miami tower collapse: Bodies of Australians found

The Australian couple killed in the Miami building collapse have been remembered for the special way they treated people, as the disaster death toll climbs higher.

Rescuers have recovered the bodies of a couple with Australian connections who were caught in the Miami building collapse disaster.

The Miami-Dade Police Department confirmed on Monday (local time) the remains of couple Tzvi Ainsworth, 68, and Ingrid Ainsworth, 66, had been found.

They had moved to Miami from Melbourne and had an apartment on the 11th floor of the Champlain Tower South condo building, which partially collapsed on June 24.

Chabad.org, a Jewish news website, described the couple as “devoted parents” and “community pillars”.

“Modest and dignified, Tzvi and Itty Ainsworth were beloved by all who knew them, and were noted for their generous hospitality and devotion towards helping others in need,” the website said.

“Friends note how Tzvi Ainsworth would arrive each day without fail at the Chabad center in Double Bay, Australia, tefillin in hand, and would assist people in performing the mitzvah.

“In their quiet and unassuming manner, the Ainsworths touched many lives with their sincere desire to spread goodness and kindness to those around them.”

The death toll from the collapse has now climbed to 27, and search work resumed after the dangerously unstable remaining portion of the building was brought down with explosives ahead of a coming tropical storm, officials said.

The couple’s daughter, Chana Wasserman, wrote a blog about her mum last year where she described a woman who was loved by everyone, and who treated them all “as equals”.

“Every person she encountered, ever in her life, became her friend,” Ms Wasserman wrote.

The bodies of Tzvi Ainsworth (far left) and Ingrid Ainsworth (far right) have been found. Picture: Supplied

“Everyone was treated as equals. The guy at the laundromat, the guy working at the fruit market, the receptionist at the doctors office, the high school kid working at blockbuster, the seamstress, the lady doing her nails, a pigeon, the stewardess, the lady cleaning the house, the outcast, the misunderstood, the popular, the unpopular,” Ms Wasserman wrote.

She also described her as neat and passionate about life.

In the blog post, Ms Wasserman revealed her mum battled a chronic muscular disorder, that times left her unable to get out of bed and in pain.

“It did take away from her physically being there, but it didn’t take away from her being there for us in every other way, at any moment of any day and for that I am grateful.”

Deborah Phillips, the Ainsworths’ niece, remembered her aunt as a “bucket filler” in an online tribute.

“She fills everyone’s bucket with an abundance of love and compliments. You feel safe with her because you know she’ll only say kind words when you leave the room and be your secret keeper for life.”

Some 118 people remained missing after the 12-story building crumbled over a week ago in Surfside, but an Israeli search official put the chances of finding survivors at “close to zero.” Still, crews “were in full search and rescue mode” by early Monday, hours after the remaining section of building was toppled in a haze of smoke and dust, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told a briefing.

She said the demolition had gone according to plan and that searchers had found three more victims in the rubble after work resumed.

The rest of the Champlain South tower is demolished with a controlled explosion in Surfside, Florida, north of Miami Beach. Picture: AFP

Ms Levine Cava added that authorities had raised “millions of dollars, thanks to the generosity of people in this country and all around the world,” with funds to be distributed to impacted families.

Authorities had halted work at the site because the unstable structure posed a threat to search-and-rescue teams, especially ahead of the expected arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa, probably on Tuesday.

But as workers climbed back onto the huge debris pile, the head of an elite Israeli search-and-rescue team helping with the effort, Colonel Golan Vach, said on CNN he had told family members that the chances of now finding survivors were “close to zero.”

The imminent arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa — it was expected to reach west-central Cuba by midday Monday before passing near the Florida Keys — forced authorities to accelerate the demolition schedule.

The collapse in the early hours of June 24 had sparked a massive search-and-rescue effort, but no survivors have been found since that day.

Experts are looking at possible pre-existing critical flaws in the building’s structure, and are surveying other older high-rises in the area for potential problems.

MIAMI TOWER DEMOLISHED OVER SAFETY FEARS

Demolition crews set off explosives to bring down the damaged remaining portion of a collapsed South Florida condo building, a key step to resuming the search for victims as rescuers possibly gain access to new areas of the rubble.

Crews were to begin clearing some of the new debris so rescuers could start making their way into parts of the underground garage that is of particular interest. Once there, rescuers are hoping that they will gain access for the first time to parts of the garage area that are a focus of interest, Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah has said.

Dust rises into the air after the demolition of the wreckage of the Champlain Tower. Picture: AFP

People hug as they watch the rest of the Champlain South tower being demolished. Picture: AFP

That could give a clearer picture of voids that may exist in the rubble and could possibly harbour survivors.

Rescuers will await the “all-clear” after the demolition and then immediately dive back into the task of trying to locate any survivors buried under the rubble, County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said. Officials had previously said that the search could resume from 15 minutes to an hour after the detonation.

FIREFIGHTER RECOVERS DAUGHTER’S BODY

A firefighter working on the search and rescue effort at the site of the Miami condo collapse was among a crew who recovered the remains of his own daughter, according to reports.

New York Post reported, the grieving father wrapped the seven-year-old victim of the tragic collapse in his jacket and placed a small US flag next to her on the stretcher as she was taken away. The girl’s uncle was also part of the rescue effort.

“It goes without saying that every night since this last Wednesday has been immensely difficult for everybody, and particularly the families that have been impacted,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said.

“But last night was uniquely different.

“These men and women are paying an enormous human toll each and every day.”

The girl’s body was discovered Thursday night, local time. The young victim nor her father or uncle have been identified by authorities.

Search and rescue teams look for possible survivors and remains in the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building. Picture: AFP

Police officers and firefighters lined the road near the site of the collapsed building as the father, his brother and other first responders recovered the young girl.

“We can confirm that a member of our City of Miami Fire Department family has lost his 7-year-old daughter in the collapse,” Miami Fire Rescue Chief Joseph Zahralban told WPLG-TV.

“She was recovered last night by members of our Urban Search and Rescue Team, Florida Task Force 2.”

“We ask that you respect the privacy of the immediate family as well as our fire department family while we grieve our loss and support our own,”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke about the girl’s death during a briefing, saying“these are tough things” for the workers to deal with.

“Obviously we focus on the families and rightfully so, but our folks have gone through a lot that are out there,” the governor said.

22 people, including three children, have been confirmed dead, with 126 missing.

A memorial at the scene of the collapse. Picture: AFP

– With AFP

Originally published as Miami tower collapse: Bodies of Australians found