By: HISTORY.com Editors

2021

98 people die in Surfside condo collapse

Published: March 04, 2022Last Updated: May 28, 2025

Early in the morning on June 24, 2021, 98 people die when a 12-story, beachfront condominium building collapses in Surfside, Florida, near Miami. The disaster is one of the worst of its kind in U.S. history.

Responders pulled dozens of survivors from the 40-year-old Champlain Towers South building the day of the collapse. But searches by rescuers in the ensuing days discovered no other survivors.

“The building is literally pancaked,” Surfside mayor Charles Burkett told reporters. Workers eventually cleared over 18 million pounds of concrete and rubble from the site.

The collapse began seven minutes before the residential tower fell, when the ground-floor parking area and a pool deck caved in, the Miami Herald reported.

An investigation by the newspaper uncovered design failures, shoddy construction, structural damage and neglect that led to the deadly chain reaction.

Engineers believed the cause of the collapse was a structural column or concrete slab giving way.

In wake of the collapse, Miami-Dade County inspected more than 500 similar buildings to identify obvious structural concerns.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on June 24th

1675

King Philip’s War begins

In colonial New England, King Philip’s War begins when a band of Wampanoag warriors raid the border settlement of Swansea, Massachusetts, and massacre the English colonists there. In the early 1670s, 50 years of peace between the Plymouth colony and the local Wampanoag Indians began to deteriorate when the rapidly expanding settlement forced land sales […]

1:34m read

1717

1st Masonic Grand Lodge formed in London

On June 24, 1717, members of four local Masonic lodges—all part of a secret society of Masons—meet at the Goose and Gridiron alehouse in London’s St. Paul’s Churchyard to create the first Grand Lodge as their collective governing body. Known initially as the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster, it will evolve into today’s United […]

1:34m read

1812

Napoleon’s Grande Armée invades Russia

Following the rejection of his Continental System by Czar Alexander I, French Emperor Napoleon orders his Grande Armée, the largest European military force ever assembled to that date, into Russia. The enormous army, featuring some 500,000 soldiers and staff, included troops from all the European countries under the sway of the French Empire. During the […]

1:46m read

1948

Soviets blockade West Berlin

One of the most dramatic standoffs in the history of the Cold War begins as the Soviet Union blocks all road and rail traffic to and from West Berlin. The blockade turned out to be a terrible diplomatic move by the Soviets, while the United States emerged from the confrontation with renewed purpose and confidence. […]

2:38m read

1970

Senate votes to repeal Gulf of Tonkin resolution

On an amendment offered by Senator Robert Dole (R-Kansas) to the Foreign Military Sales Act, the Senate votes 81 to 10 to repeal the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. In August 1964, after North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked U.S. destroyers (in what became known as the Tonkin Gulf incident), President Johnson asked Congress for a resolution authorizing […]

1:28m read

1973

UpStairs Lounge arson attack

On June 24, 1973, an arson fire at the UpStairs Lounge, a popular gathering spot for New Orleans’ LGBT community in the French Quarter, results in 32 deaths and at least 15 injuries. At the time, it was the deadliest known attack at a gay club in American history. The fire’s official cause was “undetermined,” […]

1:12m read

1982

Garment workers’ strike begins in New York City’s Chinatown

Over 20,000 garment workers, almost all of them Asian American women, pack into Columbus Park in New York City’s Chinatown on June 24, 1982. The rally and subsequent march demonstrate the workers’ power to the city and the entire garment industry, delivering a decisive victory for the striking workers. After the Immigration and Nationality Act […]

2:32m read

1993

Unabomber mail bomb injures Yale professor

On June 24, 1993, Yale University computer science professor David Gelernter is seriously injured while opening his mail when a padded envelope explodes in his hands. The attack just came two days after a University of California geneticist was injured by a similar explosive and was the latest in a string of bombings since 1978 […]

3:04m read

1997

U.S. Air Force reports on Roswell

U.S. Air Force officials release a 231-page report dismissing long-standing claims of an alien spacecraft crash in Roswell, New Mexico, almost exactly 50 years earlier.

2:22m read

1997

Disney pulls Insane Clown Posse album on release day

On June 24, 1997, the Walt Disney Corporation orders one of its subsidiary record labels to recall 100,000 already shipped copies of an album by a recently signed artist—Insane Clown Posse—on the day of its planned release. The issue at hand: the graphic nature of the Detroit “horror-core” rap duo’s lyrics. Those not familiar with […]

1:36m read

2005

Tom Cruise raises eyebrows in “Today” show interview

The actor Tom Cruise has an infamous interview with Matt Lauer, host of NBC’s morning talk show “Today,” on June 24, 2005. During the interview, Lauer challenged Cruise about critical comments the actor had made regarding the actress Brooke Shields’ use of anti-depressant medications to treat her postpartum depression. One of Hollywood’s most bankable leading […]

2:06m read

21st Century

61 videos

21st Century

They Were Inside the Twin Towers on 9/11. Here Are Their Stories.

Stories from ‘102 Minutes Inside the Towers’ reveal what people in the World Trade Center saw and experienced on September 11, 2001.

21st Century

9/11: How Air Traffic Controllers Managed the Crisis in the Skies

Here’s how the profession’s most chaotic—and harrowing—day unfolded.

21st Century

How United Flight 93 Passengers Fought Back on 9/11

The cockpit voice recorder captured the sound of passengers attempting to break through the door.

About the author

HISTORY.com Editors

HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. Articles with the “HISTORY.com Editors” byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Christian Zapata, Cristiana Lombardo and Adrienne Donica.

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

Citation Information

Article Title: 98 people die in Surfside condo collapse
Author: HISTORY.com Editors
Website Name: History
URL: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-24/surfside-condo-collapse

Date Accessed: October 21, 2026
Publisher: A&E Television Networks
Last Updated: May 28, 2025
Original Published Date: March 04, 2022

98 people die in Surfside condo collapse

Related

21st Century

They Were Inside the Twin Towers on 9/11. Here Are Their Stories.

9/11: How Air Traffic Controllers Managed the Crisis in the Skies

How United Flight 93 Passengers Fought Back on 9/11

About the author

Fact Check

Citation Information