Rubble, Narrow Voids, Storms: The Dangerous Rescue Effort in Miami

The death toll rose to 11 as search-and-rescue teams continued to sort through pulverized steel and dig through concrete boulders.

SURFSIDE, Fla. — Atop the grim pile of detritus and broken concrete on Monday, some of the world’s most elite rescue crews tunneled and dug, sometimes with their hands, in hopes of finding hints of the living. As the afternoon dragged on, it appeared their hopes would be dashed for another day. But on occasion, the workers would pause, and bend down, and collect what amounted to small, fragile consolation prizes: the personal photos from the residents of the Champlain Towers South, a building that less than a week ago had been alive with a typically South Florida assemblage of families, grandparents and retirees. Monday was the fifth day of the extensive search-and-rescue effort, and the possibility of finding alive any of the 150 people believed to be missing dwindled further. The pictures, and a few other personal effects that somehow managed to survive the collapse, were at least something.