Four more victims were discovered in the rubble of the collapsed South Florida condo building on Monday after crews set off a string of explosives that brought down the last of the structure, allowing search efforts to resume.

Miami-Dade’s assistant fire chief, Raide Jadallah, told family members that the bodies of three more people had been found, raising the death toll to 27 people. Daniella Levine Cava, the county mayor, later said another body had been found, bringing the toll to 28, with 117 people remain unaccounted for.

The demolition opened up a previously unreachable area for rescuers, though the chances of finding any survivors there waned, Cava said on NBC’s Today.

“We understand that families realize the fact that time has gone by, they realize that the chances are growing all dimmer,” she said. “They are with us, they know what we’ve been doing every step of the way.”

Crews could be seen climbing a mound of debris at the site Monday alongside a piece of heavy equipment that was picking up rubble.

Crews immediately began clearing some of the new debris after the demolition late on Sunday so rescuers could start making their way into parts of the underground garage that is of particular interest. Officials said the search effort had resumed before midnight.

“As a result of the contractor who brought it down, he did it in such a way that literally we actually were back on the original pile in less than 20 minutes,” Jadallah told family members of those missing, drawing applause in a rare upbeat moment for the twice-daily meetings.

Rescuers were hoping to get a clearer picture of voids that may exist in the rubble as they search for those believed to be trapped under the fallen wing of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside that collapsed on 24 June.

No one has been rescued alive since the first hours after the collapse. On Sunday, Miami-Dade police identified David Epstein, 58, as one of the 27 people known to have died in the fallen tower. His remains were recovered Friday.

Some residents had pleaded to return to their homes one last time before the demolition to retrieve belongings left in haste, but they were denied. A local volunteer animal rescuer petitioned to a judge a request to delay the building demolition to save any pets that could remain in the building. A Miami-Dade county attorney said that the building was already full of explosives and would be a hazard to the woman and rescue crews. The judge denied her request, allowing the demolition to go as planned.

The decision to demolish the remnants of the Surfside building came after concerns mounted that the damaged structure was at risk of falling, endangering the crews below and preventing them from operating in some areas. Parts of the remaining building shifted on Thursday, prompting a 15-hour suspension in the work.

The approaching Tropical Storm Elsa had added urgency to the demolition plans with forecasts suggesting the system could bring strong winds. Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in Florida because of the storm, making federal aid possible.

The latest forecasts have moved the storm westward, mostly sparing south Florida, but the area could still feel effects.

Authorities had gone door-to-door to advise nearby residents of the timing of the demolition, and to ask them to keep windows closed. They were told to stay inside until two hours after the blast to avoid the dust raised by the implosion.

The method used for Sunday night’s demolition is called “energetic felling”, which uses small detonation devices and relies on the force of gravity. The goal was to bring in the building down in place, containing the collapse to the immediate surroundings.

Officials used tarps to visually mark the search area, in case new debris scattered unexpectedly.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Three more victims were discovered in the rubble of the collapsed South Florida condo building on Monday after crews set off a string of explosives that brought down the last of the structure, allowing search efforts to resume.

Miami-Dade’s assistant fire chief, Raide Jadallah, told family members that the bodies of three more people had been found, raising the death toll to 27 people. More than 115 people remain unaccounted for.

The demolition opened up a previously unreachable area for rescuers, though the chances of finding any survivors there waned, the Miami-Dade county mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, said on NBC’s Today.

“We understand that families realize the fact that time has gone by, they realize that the chances are growing all dimmer,” she said. “They are with us, they know what we’ve been doing every step of the way.”

Crews could be seen climbing a mound of debris at the site Monday alongside a piece of heavy equipment that was picking up rubble.

Crews immediately began clearing some of the new debris after the demolition late on Sunday so rescuers could start making their way into parts of the underground garage that is of particular interest. Officials said the search effort had resumed before midnight.

“As a result of the contractor who brought it down, he did it in such a way that literally we actually were back on the original pile in less than 20 minutes,” Jadallah told family members of those missing, drawing applause in a rare upbeat moment for the twice-daily meetings.

Rescuers were hoping to get a clearer picture of voids that may exist in the rubble as they search for those believed to be trapped under the fallen wing of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside that collapsed on 24 June.

No one has been rescued alive since the first hours after the collapse. On Sunday, Miami-Dade police identified David Epstein, 58, as one of the 27 people known to have died in the fallen tower. His remains were recovered Friday.

Some residents had pleaded to return to their homes one last time before the demolition to retrieve belongings left in haste, but they were denied. A local volunteer animal rescuer petitioned to a judge a request to delay the building demolition to save any pets that could remain in the building. A Miami-Dade county attorney said that the building was already full of explosives and would be a hazard to the woman and rescue crews. The judge denied her request, allowing the demolition to go as planned.

The decision to demolish the remnants of the Surfside building came after concerns mounted that the damaged structure was at risk of falling, endangering the crews below and preventing them from operating in some areas. Parts of the remaining building shifted on Thursday, prompting a 15-hour suspension in the work.

The approaching Tropical Storm Elsa had added urgency to the demolition plans with forecasts suggesting the system could bring strong winds. Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in Florida because of the storm, making federal aid possible.

The latest forecasts have moved the storm westward, mostly sparing south Florida, but the area could still feel effects.

Authorities had gone door-to-door to advise nearby residents of the timing of the demolition, and to ask them to keep windows closed. They were told to stay inside until two hours after the blast to avoid the dust raised by the implosion.

The method used for Sunday night’s demolition is called “energetic felling”, which uses small detonation devices and relies on the force of gravity. The goal was to bring in the building down in place, containing the collapse to the immediate surroundings.

Officials used tarps to visually mark the search area, in case new debris scattered unexpectedly.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Rescuers were given the all-clear to resume work looking for victims at a collapsed South Florida condo building after demolition crews set off a string of explosives that brought down the building’s remains in a plume of dust.

Miami-Dade County’s mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, said the demolition went “exactly as planned” at about 10.30pm on Sunday.

Crews immediately began clearing some of the new debris so rescuers could start making their way into parts of the underground garage that is of particular interest.

Once there, they were hoping to get a clearer picture of voids that may exist in the rubble and could possibly harbour the 121 people believed to be trapped under the fallen wing of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside that collapsed on 24 June.

No one has been rescued alive since the first hours after the collapse. On Sunday, Miami-Dade police identified David Epstein, 58, as one of the 24 people known to have died in the fallen tower. His remains were recovered on Friday.

Shortly after the demolition, cranes were again in motion at the site, suggesting that crews were back in place in the early hours of Monday to sift through the rubble from above and below.

Rescuers are hoping the demolition will give them access for the first time to parts of the garage area. Once a new pathway into the initial rubble is secure, “we will go back to the debris pile, and we’ll begin our search and rescue efforts,” the Miami-Dade fire chief Albert Cominsky said at a press conference several hours before the remaining wing of the residential high rise came down.

During the demolition, loud blasts echoed from the structure. Then the building began to fall, one floor after another, cascading into an explosion of dust. Plumes billowed into the air as crowds watched from afar.

“It was picture perfect. Exactly what we were told would happen,” Levine Cava said after the demolition.

The mayor expressed relief that the search for victims could now continue, after being suspended on Saturday so workers could begin rigging the damaged but still-upright portion of the partly collapsed tower with explosives – a precarious operation that could have caused the structure to fail.

“I feel relief because this building was unstable. The building was hampering our search efforts,” Levine Cava said.

The approach of Tropical Storm Elsa has added urgency to the demolition plans, with forecasts suggesting there could be strong winds in the area by Monday. President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in Florida because of the storm, making federal aid possible.

The latest forecasts have moved the storm westward, mostly sparing south Florida, but a National Hurricane Center meteorologist, Robert Molleda, said the area could still feel effects. “We’re expecting primarily tropical storm force gusts,” Molleda said, referring to gusts above 40mph.

The decision to demolish the remnants of the Surfside building came after concerns that the damaged structure was at risk of falling, endangering the crews below and preventing them from operating in some areas. Parts of the remaining building shifted on Thursday, prompting a 15-hour suspension in the work.

Authorities had gone door to door to advise nearby residents of the timing of the demolition and to ask them to keep windows closed. They were told to stay inside until two hours after the blast to avoid the dust raised by the implosion.

The method used for Sunday night’s demolition is called “energetic felling”, which uses small detonation devices and relies on the force of gravity.

Levine Cava, speaking before the demolition, said that should bring the building down in place, containing the collapse to the immediate surroundings so as to minimally disturb the existing mound of debris – where many people are believed to be trapped.

Officials used tarps to visually mark the search area, in case new debris scattered unexpectedly.

In implosions – using explosives to have a building fall in on itself – the charges are generally set off in rapid succession over a matter of seconds, said Scott Homrich, who heads the National Demolition Association and runs his own demolition company in Detroit, Michigan. Setting the explosives off at intervals serves to break up the building at the same time as it comes down.

Demolition crews set off explosives late on Sunday to bring down the damaged remaining portion of a collapsed South Florida condo building, a key step to resuming the search for victims as rescuers possibly gain access to new areas of the rubble. No one has been found alive since the first hours after the disaster. So far, rescuers have recovered the remains of 24 people, with 121 still missing.

A number of explosions could be heard on Sunday night and then the building started to fall, sending up massive plumes of dust into the air in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Crews were to begin clearing some of the new debris so rescuers could start making their way into parts of the underground garage. Once there, rescuers are hoping that they will gain access for the first time to parts of the garage area that are a focus of interest, Miami-Dade assistant fire chief Raide Jadallah has said. That could give a clearer picture of voids that may exist in the rubble and could possibly harbor survivors.

The precarious, still-standing portion of a collapsed South Florida condo building was rigged with explosive charges and set for demolition overnight, Miami-Dade County officials said late Sunday. The work has suspended the search-and-rescue mission, but officials said it will open up new areas for rescue teams to explore.