On Monday several questions mounted about the residential building in the Miami area that collapsed so quickly and violently last week, as the death toll rose to 11 with another 150 people still unaccounted for, desperate families feared the worst. 

The experts are looking at the possible pre-existing critical flaws in the structure of the apartment tower in Surfside, which pancaked into a pile of smoking rubble in the early hours of Thursday. Rescue teams from Florida were joined by abroad teams to find any survivors in the rubble, continuing to scour the debris for signs of life. 

“The search continues, and it will not stop until there is a resolution,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told reporters Monday. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said that the 10th body has been retrieved from the rubble and detectives are working in real-time to audit the list. Adding that the numbers were still “very fluid, and they will continue to change.”

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Andy Alvarez, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief told ABC that “voids within the building” had been found where survivors could potentially be found, though none had been in recent hours. “We are holding up for that hope, that faith, that we are going to be able to rescue somebody,” he said Monday on the network’s “Good Morning America” program.

The officials said investigators were at the scene to do a preliminary review to determine if a full investigation of the incident would proceed, an outcome which Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz said seemed likely.

City officials released an October 2018 report late Friday that revealed fears of “major structural damage” in the Champlain Towers South complex,  from the concrete slab under the pool deck to abundant cracking and spalling of varying degrees in the concrete columns and beams in the parking garage. 

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Frank Morabito, the consultant wrote, “Though some of this damage is minor, most of the concrete deterioration needs to be repaired in a timely fashion.” Although the repairs had been set to begin soon in the 40-year old building, it did not come soon enough. 

Experts who have reviewed video footage of the collapse are now looking at the idea of “progressive collapse.”According to the experts, the initial failure perhaps in the parking garage or even below would have snowballed into tragedy.

Donald Busenbery, a consulting engineer who has investigated many structural collapses, told The New York Times that the collapse does appear to start either at or very near the bottom of the structure. “It’s not like there’s a failure high and it pancaked down,” he added.

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An Israeli search & rescue team of specialists and Mexican engineers have joined an army of American workers at the site, backed by two huge cranes and sniffer dogs. International rescue crews are working fast but carefully. Levine Cava said the rescuers have dug an enormous trench, 125 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 40 feet deep (38 by six by 12 meters) through the mountain of debris.

Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said accommodation was being found for anyone wishing to evacuate the tower’s nearly identical “sister” building a block away, though no structural problems have yet been identified there. “We’re not pushing the panic button right now. But there is a serious question there,” Burkett told CNN on Monday.

The 12-story oceanfront Champlain Towers South collapsed as residents slept. Surveillance video showed it coming down in a matter of seconds. Many members of the local Jewish community were among those affected by the tragedy. According to the Israeli media, about half of Surfside’s population is Jewish, including many members of the Hasidic Chabad-Lubavitch movement.

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So far, four victims have been identified by local police: Gladys and Antonio Lozano, respectively aged 79 and 83, 54-year-old Stacie Fang, whose 15-year-old son was rescued from the debris Thursday, and Manuel LaFont, also 54.

Venezuelan officials identified two others among the dead: Leon Oliwkowicz, 79, and his 74-year-old wife Cristina Beatriz Elvira, who were US residents. More than two dozen Latin American nationals are among the missing. Canada has also said at least four of its citizens may be “affected,” without elaborating.

President Joe Biden said Sunday his administration would coordinate with local officials and was “ready to provide any support or assistance that is needed.” “This is an unimaginably difficult time for the families enduring this tragedy,” he said in a statement.