“That land is tainted forever,” says Martin Langesfeld, who lost his sister and brother-in-law in the June 2021 disaster
NEED TO KNOW
- Five years after the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Fla., on June 24, 2021, many of the victims’ loved ones continue to grieve
- Investigators shared on June 22 that the destruction began three weeks before the tragedy
- “This investigation was nothing but an insult to the families,” Martin Langesfeld tells PEOPLE
The partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South, a 12-story condo in Surfside, Fla., happened early on June 24, 2021, and killed 98 people. But now, five years later, the trauma largely endures for many of the victims’ families.
“Life has not been the same without my grandmother,” says Michael Noriega after the death of his 92-year-old grandma, Hilda. “She was the matriarch of our family. And family gatherings, holidays — those times have not been the same whatsoever.”
It was around 1:30 a.m. when Noriega, 41, recalls getting a phone call from his mom, who told him she got a call from Hilda’s neighbor who lived in part of the building that didn’t collapse…