Biden supports investigation into Surfside building collapse
President Joe Biden supports an investigation into the collapse of a condo building in Surfside to prevent similar disasters from happening again, the White House said Monday.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration wants to “play any constructive role we can play with federal resources in getting to the bottom of it and preventing it from happening in the future.”
Ten people have been found dead in the rubble of the residential condominium building that collapsed five days ago, and 151 remain unaccounted for.
“He does believe that there should be an investigation,” Psaki said, referring to Biden. “A number of the resources that FEMA is sending to the ground — building science experts to the scene, officials from the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, officials from OSHA, and the FBI — they’ve all been deployed to Surfside under their own authorities to help participate and provide expertise in that effort.”
“The goal, of course, is to get to the bottom of what happened, and of course, how to be an instructive guide on how to prevent it from happening in the future,” she said at a press briefing.
Psaki did not provide details on which organization should run the investigation.
Over 50 federal personnel are on the ground to assist in the investigation and search and rescue efforts, including building science experts, structural engineers, geotechnical experts and members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
This story was originally published June 28, 2021 at 3:14 PM with the headline "Biden supports investigation into Surfside building collapse."
