Shocking video shows water pouring into basement of doomed Miami condo building minutes before it collapsed, as death toll rises to 18 - including two children aged four and 10 - with 145 still missing

Daily Mail UK ^ | 30 Jun 2021 | BRIAN STIEGLITZ and RACHEL SHARPand ADAM SCHRADER

[blueplum]

Water was filmed pouring from the ceiling of the doomed Miami condo and into its basement garage minutes before it collapsed - as the death toll from the disaster rose to 18.

The video was recorded at 1.18am on June 24 and zooms in on the entrance to the gated garage beneath the north side of Champlain Towers South - behind which water rains from the ceiling as if blasted from a fire hose. The building was reported to have crumbled at around 1.25am.

It emerged as six more bodies were pulled from the rubble of the ruined building on Wednesday, with Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava confirming that two of those bodies belonged to the disasters first child victims, aged four and 10.

The alarming footage was posted to TikTok by Adriana Sarmiento who told Chicago news station WLS-TV that she was on vacation with her husband and was swimming in hotel pool of the Bluegreen Vacations Solara Surfside Resort pool when she heard a noise and went to investigate.

She pulled out her phone

Sarmiento said she had tried to notify residents about the danger but they thought she was exaggerating because 'things like that don't happen in America.'

[EVO X]

You raise an interesting point. From current accounts the condo was failing for at least 7 minutes prior to the collapse. I haven’t seen any reports that suggest the fire alarm went off before the total collapse.

[Keyhopper]

I work in the industry. As soon as the water moves in the system the bells and lights start up, elevators fall to the ground floor. That should have set of alarms at the front desk, the alarm monitoring company and the fire department at the same time, unless someone silenced the alarm.

[EVO X]

I work in the industry. As soon as the water moves in the system the bells and lights start up, elevators fall to the ground floor. That should have set of alarms at the front desk, the alarm monitoring company and the fire department at the same time, unless someone silenced the alarm.

You raise a good point. Maybe we will see some reporting on this