New Florida Condo Footage Reveals Garage Crumbling Minutes Before Collapse

New footage from the scene of the deadly building collapse in Surfside, Florida shows damage in the condo’s garage just minutes before the structure came down last week. 

Adriana Sarmiento, who posted the video on TikTok, told WLS in Chicago that she was swimming at her hotel next to the Champlain Towers South when she heard a crash. She went to the street to check out the noise and saw debris littering the garage and water rushing in: 

Sarmiento told CNN  that the building’s residents walked out on their balconies to see what was happening. She urged them to evacuate but said she thinks they couldn’t understand her. 

Seven minutes later, the building fell. 

“For me, it’s been very difficult thinking of everyone who lived there,” Sarmiento told the network.

At least 18 people were killed  and 145 remain missing after the building collapsed last week. Reports have since indicated that the building was in need of major repairs due to structural damage.

In 2018, contractors estimated that it would take $9 million to fix the building, including “abundant cracking and spalling” of concrete in the parking garage as well as “major structural damage” to the concrete slab at the pool, per The Associated Press .  

It’s not yet clear what role, if any, those defects may have played in the building’s collapse.