Rescue personnel search for the condo tower's 12-story collapsed condominium tower in Surfside, Florida Joe Raedle/Getty PhotosExperts said that the fatal Florida condo collapse was caused by a problem at the base of the building.Donald O. Dusenberry (consulting engineer) stated that the "it does seem to start either at the top or very close to the bottom of the structure."It is unknown what caused the Surfside condo fire that left at least nine people dead and more than 150 unaccounted for.For more stories, visit Insider's homepage.Experts who examined video footage from the tragedy suggested that the fatal accident could have been caused by a failure at the base the partially collapsed condo building in Florida.Donald O. Dusenberry (a consultant engineer who has examined many structural collapses) said that it appeared to begin at the bottom or very close to the bottom of the structure. He published his report Sunday in The New York Times.He said, "It's certainly not like the building has been destroyed by a high-rise failure."Experts Dunsenberry and others who examined stunning footage of the moment the massive Champlain Towers South in Surfside collapsed last week, told the newspaper that they thought there was a problem at the base of the structure.Dusenberry stated that the collapse of the 130-unit building "would suggest a foundational matter - possibly corrosion or other damage at lower levels."Dusenberry acknowledged that corrosion could have been a factor in the collapse but said that "it's impossible to rule out a design error or construction mistake that has survived for over 40 years."In 2018, an engineering firm warned that the condo building in Miami-Dade County had signs of major structural damage.The firm also discovered evidence of "abundant cracking" and fragmentation in the columns, beams and walls under the condo building.Continue the storyEvan Bentz, professor of structural engineering at University of Toronto, identified the possible culprit as the support columns located underground.Bentz explained to The New York Times that the primary function of the columns in the basement was to support the structure in the air. "The basement columns stopped functioning because the structure was no longer held up in air," Bentz explained to The New York Times.It is unknown what caused the Thursday morning collapse at 1:30 a.m. that left at least nine people dead and more than 150 unaccounted for.Insider has the original article.
