Secret Israeli army unit creates 3D images of Miami condo collapse to work out where victims may be

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The Israeli military has created 3D images of the Miami condo and then collapsed them to help rescuers identify where victims and even survivors might be.

They were developed by Unit 9900, a secret element of the Israel Defense Forces, that gathers geographical data from satellites and planes. 

A team of rescuers from the Israeli army are on the scene of the tragedy at Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida where 147 people are still missing.    

‘Based on what the rescuers are finding, including artifacts, and what we gather from the families, the unit created the 3-D modeling that is very accurate,’ said Capt. Uri Jospe, 36, a reserves civilian population officer, in comments to the New York Post.

The unit also made a rendering of what the building looked like before the collapse, to help in comparisons.

‘So that means that we know that if someone was in apartment X, we can try and find their location now,’ Jospe added.

Lt. N, the commander of Unit 9900, said they used ‘advanced technological capabilities’ to help.

‘We analyzed the collapsed building and built a three-dimensional model of the structure,’ Lt. N said in a statement.

‘Our model will allow the Home Front Command delegation to further assist in the rescue efforts and navigate through the rubble more quickly and effectively.

‘We are grateful for the privilege and responsibility to take part in such an important international effort.’ 

Jospe added, ‘That’s how we work, no matter what the chances are, we keep on hoping and we don’t assume anything. We are here to find as many people as possible.’ 

Colonel Golan Vach, head of a unit of the Israel Defense Forces that specializes in search and rescue operations, had never seen a disaster zone like the crumbled condo building in Surfside, Florida, in his more than 20 years of military experience.

Vach’s team, the National Rescue Unit, arrived in Miami early on Sunday, three days after Champlain Tower South partially collapsed without warning while people slept early on Thursday.

Once at the site, they found a massive heap of fragmented concrete and mangled metal, with children’s toys and other personal belongings strewn about. In it, they hoped to find and rescue dozens of missing people in the rubble.

‘It’s one of the most difficult and complicated situations that I’ve ever seen,’ Vach, who has commanded his unit for four years, said on Tuesday.

Joining forces with the hundreds of American first responders and a team of Mexican rescuers, the Israelis have spent every waking hour either sifting through the four-story pile of debris or meeting with the families of the missing, with two- to three-hour breaks for sleep, Vach said.

More than two dozen of those unaccounted for were Jewish and had links to Israel, according to an Israeli official. 

Several families had expressed hope the Israeli team, renowned for skills honed during rescue operations at buildings damaged by warfare, would join the frantic search for survivors.

To prepare for the operation, Vach said the teams studied the structure of Champlain Tower South while still in Israel and built 3D models of the 40-year-old high-rise. 

The team then carefully replicated the manner in which the tower appeared to have collapsed, aiming to understand how to excavate the site with the highest probability of finding survivors.

‘We are looking for the bedrooms because people were sleeping,’ said Vach, wearing a religious skullcap and army green uniform with an Israeli flag patch on one sleeve.

Vach’s team has consulted with the families to get the best idea of where their relatives might have been within their apartments at the time the building collapsed.

‘Our purpose is to get the first responder to understand, where exactly is he digging?’ he said.

Once they know where they are on the site, the crews must penetrate meters of concrete in an effort to reach the bedrooms and search for possible cavities where survivors may have found a measure of protection, Vach said.

The community has not given up. At a makeshift memorial near the site, someone left a flower pot with orchids and a message inscribed: ‘Estelle, stay strong, come home.’

On the beach, a few hundred meters from the pile of twisted metal and concrete where the tower once stood intact, the word ‘HOPE’ is etched in enormous letters in the sand.

Vach said his conversations with families have been difficult, and his team was committed to being transparent with them as the possibility of finding victims alive grows slimmer.

‘There are minor chances,’ Vach said. ‘I would not say there are no chances.’

At the end of their 12-hour shifts, members of the Israeli team meet to talk and process their laborious task.

‘Sometimes we cry. It’s natural,’ Vach said.

But the team has not given up hope, he stresses, saying that every day it finds new spaces and channels within the layers of debris.

‘Maybe there’s a confined space that somebody left, and somebody is alive in there,’ he said.

The Israeli rescue team is expected to return home by the end of the coming weekend. 

The death toll from the Miami condo collapse has now risen to 16 after four more bodies were pulled from the rubble overnight.

Now, almost one week on from the tragedy in the early hours of June 24, 147 people are still missing among the rubble. No survivors have been found since Thursday.

With 147 still unaccounted for and hopes fading that people will be found alive, the disaster is shaping up to be one of the deadliest non-deliberate structural failures in US history. 

The search for victims and survivors has been hampered by numerous challenging factors including the threat of falling debris, heavy rain and wind, and the discovery of deep fires in the rubble over the weekend.

While the search continues, questions continue to mount over what caused the collapse and whether critical failures by building officials left residents in the dangerous tower ahead of its collapse.   

An alarming 2018 structural survey warned of ‘major structural damage’ in the building specifically to the pool area and underground parking garage. 

On Tuesday, just 36 hours before the collapse, a contractor photographed worrying signs of damage in the parking garage. 

The 1981 building was coming up for recertification – a process which is required every 40 years for buildings in Miami Dade.

Fears are now growing over the safety of other buildings in the county.

Miami Dade County officials said they are inspecting 501 buildings that is 40 years or older to make sure none are compromised like Champlain Towers South.