The search in the rubble of the building that collapsed in Miami will not stop until we find all the people

(CNN) – After more than three weeks of searching, crews at the site of the collapse of the Miami condoThey have made great progress, but the intensity of their work is not over yet, an official said.
“At the site of the original collapse we are almost at the bottom,” Miami-Dade Police spokesman Álvaro Zabaleta told CNN. “Does that mean we are almost done with the search? No. Until we clear the whole place and find no more human remains we are not done.”

“We almost did it,” Zabaleta added.

Since part of the building collapsed in the middle of the night on June 24, teams have recovered 97 bodies from the rubble, identified 92 victims and notified 92 families, according to a Thursday press release from the Office of the Mayor of Miami-Dade.

From now on, the county says it will only report the number of victims that have been identified, “out of respect for the families who are still waiting and to make sure we are reporting the most accurate figures possible.”

With more than 9,979 tons of concrete and debris removed from the site, according to Miami-Dade County, the scene differs greatly from the 4 meters of debris crews faced in the immediate aftermath.

But the pain felt by the community and families of the victims has not changed.

Flowers, letters and photos continue to be added to the Wall of Hope, a tribute to those who were inside located at the gates of the building’s tennis court.

“It’s almost like a mourning process or a shiva process that goes on and on, but you haven’t had the funeral yet,” Soriya Cohen told CNN affiliate WLPG as she waited for rescuers to find her husband. “I’m not even 100% sure they will find him because they searched his apartment and only found his brother.”

The site becomes a place of meeting and mourning

The tragedy has affected victims from multiple Latin American countries, such as Colombia, Venezuela, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Surfside, a small and eclectic city of about 6,000 inhabitants, is also home to a large population of Orthodox Jews. After the collapse, when families reunited, it was common to hear a mixture of conversations in Hebrew, Spanish, English and Portuguese.

The diverse community she joined in, trying to hold on to the force of faith. Synagogues and churches opened their arms to hold emergency prayer services after the collapse. Vigils were held for the missing, and many prayed, sobbed and embraced with the ruins of the tower visible in the background.

“Clearly this has become more than just a collapsed building. It is a holy place,” Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said earlier this week.

A bulldozer removes debris at the site of the collapse and demolition of the Champlain Towers South condo building Thursday.

Calls to 911 from the first moments of the collapse

Meanwhile, more details have emerged about the immediate moments of the collapse.

Calls to 911 during the first moments reveal chaos and confusion among residents and witnesses as the building collapses.

“It looks like something underground, everything exploded,” said a person who called dispatchers, adding that it looked like an earthquake.

Another man who called, who told operators he was in a parking lot, begged for help: “I know the police are already here. Can someone help me out please?” The caller pleaded. “I managed to escape, but I am outside in the parking lot. If the building collapses, it will fall on my head.”

A caller told dispatchers that a sister lived in the building, but was confused as to what had happened and how to rescue people.

“I don’t know if something happened to him, but half the building is gone,” said the caller. “There are two people, they are, they are alive but that, they cannot leave because there is no building on the other side of their apartment.”

CNN obtained and transcribed these frantic phone calls about three weeks after the Champlain Towers South building collapsed.

– CNN’s Rosa Flores, Aya Elamroussi, Tina Burnside, Kelsie Smith, Rebekah Riess and Faith Karimi contributed to this report.