SURFSIDE, Fla. – Authorities are returning the safes that were recovered from the rubble where the Champlain Towers South condo building once stood.
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said there is a private website set up to help families and survivors claim the property.
“It’s painful for me to lack that and imagine how difficult it is going to be for the owners to get their personal belongings back. The whole process is painful. It is difficult,” Burkett said.
There were about 20 safes and it has been nearly eight months since the L-shaped building collapsed, at 8777 Collins Ave., killing 98 people.
The Miami-Dade Police Department used evidence bags to store valuables, and all of the belongings had to undergo a decontamination process.
The 1981 building was undergoing 40-year recertification when the tragedy happened. The National Institute for Standards and Technology’s investigation was still ongoing.
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