SURFSIDE, Fla. – Saturday marks two years since the Champlain Towers South collapsed in Surfside, killing 98 people.
To mark that solemn moment, several family members of the victims lit a torch near the site overnight, as the Surfside Chief of Police John Healy read the names of all 98 victims, many of whom were sleeping when the building came crashing down.
The remembrance event happened at Veterans Park on Collins Avenue, directly across from the collapse site.
In the two years since that collapse, an investigation has been launched looking into the cause.
Family members, survivors, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, along with other local officials and community leaders were in attendance to pay their respects.
While a final determination is still years away, a preliminary report released by investigators earlier this month identified a severe strength deficiency in the building’s pool deck —likely caused by a design flaw when the building was constructed in the early 1980′s.
“So many buildings have violations on them and what do you get? You get a fine and pay your way out of it until something like this happens again,” said Martin Langesfeld, whose brother Nicky Langesfeld was killed in the collapse.
The site itself has since been sold to a billionaire developer from Dubai who plans to build a new tower on the property.
The move not sitting well with some of the victim’s families who are pushing to install a permanent memorial on the very same site.
“How can we build over dead bodies in America and Surfside calls it ‘respect’ to add another luxurious building? That is not respect. It’s hard to accept the fact that there’s going to be another building, but we’re not trying to stop the building from going up. What we’re trying to do is incorporate a memorial on the site of the collapse,”' said Langesfeld.
Town officials are now looking to put that memorial on public land adjacent to the property with a final location and design plan having yet to be announced.
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