The search for victims of the Florida apartment building
collapse is drawing to a close, as rescue teams halted work at the site of the disaster that killed at least 97 people.

The collapse happened on June 24 and the rescue operations
have been going on ever since.  

“It’s hard to believe that a month has now passed since
perhaps the greatest tragedy in our community’s history,” Miami-Dade
County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said on Twitter on Saturday.

“While the site of the collapse was confined to the
size of just one block in a close-knit city, its reverberation has been felt
far beyond our county, touching lives all over the world,” she added in a video posted on social media.

Rescue workers ended their search on Friday for victims at
the site of the Champlain Towers South, a 12-story beachfront building that
partially collapsed, killing at least 97.

The search for survivors ended on July 7 and with the
exception of a teenager who was rescued in the first hours after the collapse,
rescuers were unable to save any of the building’s residents who had not
escaped. After the removal of thousands of tons of rubble, all that remains of
the building north of Miami beach are a few foundation walls.

Authorities have identified 97 bodies, but believe one
victim is still missing, Levine Cava said this week. Miami-Dade police continue
to search for the 98th victim at the site where the building debris was
deposited.

While the exact reason for the collapse remains unknown,
preliminary findings have shown some of the building’s structure appeared
degraded.

The rest of the building was brought down in a controlled
explosion July 4 to allow for the recovery operation to continue.

A memorial honoring the victims may be built on the site of
the disaster, officials said last week.