SURFSIDE, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida man who lost his sister and brother-in-law in the partial collapse in Surfside is weighing in on new findings from federal investigators pointing to the condominium’s pool deck as a possible cause.
7News cameras on Thursday afternoon captured Martin Langesfeld and his father as they placed flowers on the fence surrounding the site where their loved ones lived.
“Now it’s a gravesite. Ninety-eight people died here, including my sister,” said Langesfeld.
Nearly two years ago to the date, his sister, Nicole Langesfeld, and his brother-in-law, Luis Sadovnic, were killed when the Champlain Towers South collapsed, the place the newlywed couple called home.
“First of all, it still doesn’t feel like a reality. It’s a never-ending nightmare, and having to fight for justice when you would think it’s given to you after such a horrific tragedy,” said Langesfeld.
On Thursday, some new findings from the National Institute of Standards were discovered on what has possibly caused the collapse.
Failure pointed to the pool deck, which showed critically low margins against failure.
“How did it last 40 years up, knowing that it wasn’t up to code?” said Langesfeld. “Why do we have to wait until 98 die to find out that was part of the problem?”
Adding to emotion, the findings come about a week after Dubai-based developer Damac International submitted two design options to build a 12-story condo where the collapse happened.
“The new proposal includes absolutely not one inch on the site of a memorial,” said Langesfeld. “There’s ways to work around – we’re not asking for a grave to go on the site, we’re asking for somewhere people can go remember and reflect on what was lost here.”
But the question raised by Langesfeld was, how can that be so soon?
“This development is set to go up in 2024, so what does that mean?” he said. “It could say the land is deemed unsafe in 2025 when there’s already people living in there, in a brand-new development.”
Langesfeld said money cannot replace what he and his family have gone through.
“And now they are going to replace it behind me with luxurious apartments, over $10 million each, possibly, for what? Is that what she died for?” he said.
Even once the investigation is completed, Langesfeld said, closure will never come.
“But why was my family in there? There is never full closure, but we just need to know how to prevent this from happening again and why this happened in the first place,” he said.
A presentation of the investigation, as well as recommendations, are set for sometime in 2025.
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