Surfside victims to be honored at private vigil, public event on collapse anniversary

A year after 98 people died in the Surfside condo collapse, the families of the victims will return to the site of the tragedy Friday to mark the first anniversary of the Champlain Towers South collapse.

About 300 family members are expected to gather early Friday morning at the site where the 12-story building once stood to light a commemorative torch and honor their loved ones. They will officially observe the anniversary at 1:22 a.m. — the moment the building collapsed on June 24, 2021.

The torch will remain lit for about three weeks to represent the time it took until the last victim, Estelle Hedaya, was recovered from the rubble July 20, said Mayor Shlomo Danzinger. It will be displayed in Veterans Park across Collins Avenue from the collapse site.

The private vigil, which is for family members and invited guests only, is one of several events planned for later this week to mark the one-year anniversary. The town of Surfside is organizing the anniversary events with a committee of family members. The Town Commission authorized the town to spend up to $95,000 on the events, although the town said it expects to be reimbursed for at least some of the expenses by Miami-Dade County and philanthropic groups.

Read more: Remembering the victims of the Surfside tower collapse

On Wednesday, the City of Doral will honor Nicole “Nicky” Langesfeld, who died in the collapse, by unveiling a newly renamed street in her memory. The city — where Langesfeld lived for almost all of her life before moving to Champlain Towers South — co-designated a section of Northwest 114th Avenue as “Nicky Langesfeld Place.”

Langesfeld, 26, died in the collapse with her husband, Luis Sadovnic, 28.

Surfside invites public to memorial event

There will be a public memorial event at 10 a.m. Friday at the collapse site, 8777 Collins Ave., which will feature remarks from family members, emergency officials and politicians. Commanders from urban search-and-rescue teams — who spent nearly a month searching for survivors and recovering deceased victims from the collapse — are expected to read out the names of the 98 victims, according to a schedule of events distributed to families.

The event will be the first time the public is invited to the collapse site, which has been the scene of engineering inspections following a class-action lawsuit and amid investigations into the cause of the collapse. Authorities brought family members to the site last summer.

The town will broadcast the public event online and through its public-access cable TV channel. Non-reserved seating will be “extremely limited” and only offered on a first-come, first-served basis, according to the town.

Miami-Dade Fire Chief Alan Cominsky, who helped oversee the search-and-rescue efforts, will speak at the event along with Israeli Defense Forces Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin. The IDF’s National Rescue Unit also participated in the emergency efforts at the site.

Danzinger and other government officials are also scheduled to speak. He said confirmed speakers include U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, state Sen. Jason Pizzo, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, who is also the state fire marshal, and Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.

Israeli Consul General Maor Elbaz-Starinsky will also speak, he said.

At 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Miami Beach will hold a special Mass to pray for the victims, their loved ones and survivors of the collapse. A candle will be lit for each of the 98 victims who died in the collapse. The church is located near Surfside town limits at 8670 Byron Ave. Family members and survivors will attend separate, private retreats and meals Friday and Saturday at another local house of worship.

This story was originally published June 20, 2022 at 4:46 PM.

Martin Vassolo

Miami Herald

305-376-2071

Martin Vassolo writes about local government and community news in Miami Beach, Surfside and beyond. He was part of the team that covered the Champlain Towers South building collapse, work that was recognized with a staff Pulitzer Prize for breaking news. He began working for the Herald in 2018 after attending the University of Florida.