The unstable remains
of the collapsed condo in Surfside, Florida was brought down late on Sunday with
a controlled explosion. Search and rescue teams will resume their operations at the Chapman Towers South once
the area has been deemed safe following the demolition.

Rescue
efforts were paused on Saturday as engineers prepared for the demolition, which
officials said was crucial for the search for remaining survivors safely as it
would remove the possibility of the remaining structure collapsing. At least 24
people have died since the building collapsed on June 24, with another 121
still unaccounted for.

Also Read | Hurricane Elsa and Florida collapse site: The connection

“As soon as
the building is down and once the site is deemed secure, we will have our first
responders back on the pile to immediately resume their work,” CNN quoted
Miami-Dade County Mayor Levine Cava as saying.

She said
that the method of demolition employed for the condo is called “energetic
felling”, a process that “uses small, strategically-placed explosives and relies
on gravity to bring the building down in place”.

 Nearby residents were advised
to stay indoors during the demolition due to the dust and other “unavoidable
byproduct” of the demolition.

Authorities
have also been racing against time to complete the demolition in view of the impending
tropical storm Elsa, currently heading for Florida with heavy rains and
sustained wind speeds of up to 60 kilometres per hour.

Also Read | Therapy dogs soothe amid trauma of Florida collapse

Florida
governor Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for 15 counties in the state,
including Miami-Dade, because of the storm. A tropical storm warning has also
been issued for Florida Keys while a storm watch is in effect as far north as
Tampa Bay.

Elsa was a
Category 1 hurricane on Friday and Saturday but weakened to a tropical storm as
it crossed the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Meanwhile, Surfside
mayor Charles Burkett has maintained that the authorities are still treating
this as a rescue situation. “”It is absolutely not a recovery effort,” he
said in an appearance on Sunday’s “Face the Nation” on CBS.