SURFSIDE, FLA. (WSVN) - As the five-year anniversary of the deadly 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside approaches, a relative of one of the 98 victims seeks to know who should be held accountable.
Martin Langesfeld, the sister of one of the victims, shared his story after his sister Nikki and husband Louis Sidovnick were killed in the collapse.
“A regular happy couple that had just gotten married a few months prior and they were ready to start their lives,” he said.
On Monday, two days before the anniversary, a report was released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s National Construction Safety Team, which concluded that the collapse began weeks earlier.
“We have concluded that the failure most likely began in early June, about three weeks before the collapse, when two connections between garage columns and the pool deck slab failed,” the report read.
The safety team found that a combination of design and construction issues, as well as environmental factors, led to the collapse.
“We found no evidence of any specific initiating event. The final factor that brought the critically low margins of safety to the point of failure was most likely long term degradation from corrosion,” said Glenn Bell, a co-lead investigator.
Langsfeld says that if corrosion was a major factor, there are countless properties across the Atlantic coastline that could also be at risk.
“If that’s the case, that’s the word they’re using, then every single building along the coastline are in imminent danger,” he said.
While the specific details may be clarified, Langsfield wants to know who can be held responsible.
“There’s no criminal investigation open, and what this report does is that it shows that there is faulty construction, and permits were approved not up to code. Who approved these permits? Who let the recertifications go by?” he said.
There are two memorial services happening on Wednesday. One at Veterans Park at 1:15 a.m., which is the time when the collapse occurred, and a torch lighting ceremony at 10 a.m. on the site on 88th and Collins Avenue.
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