Rescue efforts at the site of a partially collapsed Florida condominium building resumed Thursday evening after a 15-hour pause for safety concerns, The Associated Press reported.
Officials also said they had started planning for the likely demolition of the remaining structure.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the decision about the demolition needed to be made “extremely carefully and methodically,” considering the effect on the search-and-rescue operations.
The rescue work had been halted shortly after 2:00 a.m. amid concerns about the stability of the part of the tower that still stands. Crews noticed widening cracks and up to a foot of movement in a large column. It was not immediately clear why authorities changed course.
The stoppage had threatened to dim hopes for finding anyone alive in the debris a week after the tower came down. Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said the halt was worrisome since “minutes and hours matter, lives are at stake.”
Meanwhile on Thursday, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visited the community. During the visit, they met with Levine Cava and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The President offered to have the federal government fully fund the rescue and recovery efforts for the first 30 days, telling the officials that they just had to "pick up the phone" and ask for whatever they needed.
Later, Biden met with local Chabad rabbis, many of whom have community members who are missing.
One of the rabbis, Rabbi Yankie Fellig, told Biden that his sister and brother-in-law were in the building.