SURFSIDE, Fla. – A small group gathered at 1:15 a.m. Tuesday morning at Veterans Park in Surfside to remember the 98 people who lost their lives on this day four years ago in the Champlain Towers collapse.
The ceremony took place at the same time a section of the 12-story Champlain Towers South building collapsed on June 24, 2021.
First responders held a moment of silence Tuesday morning and called out the names of all 98 victims as a way to honor their lives and the families they left behind.
“It’s nice that it’s not just us carrying his legacy, but anyone that’s impacted him and I’m really grateful to feel like he’s still here through other people,” said Deven Gonzalez, who lost her father in the collapse.
Gonzalez’s mother survived.
“We were all asleep around 1:15 in the morning, my mom heard something, and she immediately said ‘run,’ and my mom started running -- my dad didn’t make it out of bed,” Gonzalez said.
Martin Langesfeld lost his 26-year-old sister, Nicole, and her husband in the collapse.
“I remember coming here and counting the floors to find out which apartment was my sister’s, and I remember exactly her unit was ripped in half,” he said.
Nicole Langesfeld was a recent University of Miami Law School graduate and was newly married.
“Today is a day to remember, but it’s also a day to never forget that we don’t know why this happened and we’re not going to stop fighting for answers,” Langesfeld said.
Later in the morning, a remembrance ceremony was held near the site of the collapse.
WATCH: Remembrance ceremony below or click here:
Family members, survivors and city and county leaders spoke at the event.
There was a focus on the lack of answers following the collapse — Why did the building collapse? Where does the investigation stand? Who, if anyone, is going to be held accountable? And why is the land already sold and moving towards being redeveloped?
While a final determination is possibly still years away, a preliminary report released by investigators in 2023 identified a severe strength deficiency in the building’s pool deck —likely caused by a design flaw when the building was constructed in the early 1980’s.
“We spend millions of dollars trying to get the answer that still doesn’t exist,” said Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett. “We still don’t know why the building collapsed and who is going to be accountable for the death of 98 people.”
The site itself has since been sold to a billionaire developer from Dubai who plans to build a new tower on the property.
Town officials are now looking to put a memorial in honor of the victims on public land adjacent to the property.