Miami building collapse – Boy, 15, pulled alive from rubble lay next to dying mom for hours after condo crumbled

A TEEN boy who was pulled alive from the rubble laid next to his dying mom for hours after the Miami condo collapsed.

Jonah Handler, 15, survived the incident on June 24 while Stacie Fang was killed.


The teen laid next to his mom for hours after a portion of Champlain Towers South collapsed, according to a lawsuit filed by his family on July 8.

It states: “Stacie and Jonah landed several floors below and miraculously were still alive.”

The 15-year-old was pulled from the rubble but was left with “devastating injuries”, according to the court documents cited by MailOnline.

The lawsuit adds that he was left “physically, emotionally and psychologically permanently injured”.

Fire crews dramatically rescued Jonah from the rubble but Stacie died after she was rushed to hospital.

The teen was hoisted onto a firefighter's shoulders as rescue workers carried him to safety.

The lawsuit said: “They free-fell to what they thought was certain death.”

At least 15 lawsuits have been filed since the tragedy.

DEATH TOLL RISES

The death toll now stands at 90 as another four bodies were pulled from the rubble on Sunday.

Search and rescue efforts turned into a recovery mission on Wednesday with Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett adding it was “very likely that the site will be clear sooner than expected”.

It's reported that 31 people remain unaccounted for.

Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told media Saturday that the pace of the operation makes it “very likely that the site will be clear sooner than expected.”

He said: "The progress there remains intense. Much of the original pile is at ground level or below."

Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo Ramirez told 610 WIOD radio on Friday that work was continuing at a "swift tempo".

He said rescue teams are working around the clock to try and bring closure to the families and their number one priority is to recover the victims, The Miami Herald reports.

Rescuers found the body of the nanny who babysat for Paraguay's first lady.

Leidy Luna Villalba, 23, was recently found dead after her mother and cousin traveled all the way to Miami from Paraguay in hopes of finding her alive.

URGENT REPAIRS

And, the body of a pregnant British mom and her husband was tragically found on Friday.

Bhavna Patel, a 36-year-old UK-US dual citizen, her husband Vishal Patel, 42, and their daughter Aishani, were all unaccounted for following the disaster on June 24.

Officials reportedly warned that the doomed condo required urgent repair work – just days before part of the Surfside apartment block collapsed.

Emails obtained by the Miami Herald show building manager Scott Stewart reminding officials that he needed approval for work to go ahead.

He said: “As we are out to bid on our project [we] need to get to answers to these questions.

“This is holding us up and cost [sic] are going up and out [sic] 40 years is coming up fast.”

Director of the Surfside building department James McGuinness reportedly responded to the emails on June 23 – just 14 hours before the condo came down.

Miami-Dade law states that buildings that are 40 years old must undergo inspections.

It was also reported that the building may have used less reinforced steel.

Expert Allyn E. Kilsheimer said the amount of steel used to connect concrete slabs to columns below the parking deck may have been less than specified in the original plans, the New York Times reports.

Engineers said there were three damaged columns in the western part of the condo that was still standing.

It’s reported that they were supposed to be connected with eight rods of reinforcing steel but the number appears to be less.

The cause of the condo collapse currently remains unknown as investigations continue.



 

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