Search crews return after Surfside condo building's standing portion brought down with explosives

Search crews resumed their work after the still-standing portion of the partially collapsed condo building in Surfside, Florida, was brought down using explosives Sunday night.

The demolition occurred after 10 p.m. ET, 11 days after the shocking collapse of much of the residential Champlain Towers structure on June 24 that resulted in 24 confirmed deaths, with 121 people still unaccounted for, according to Miami-Dade County officials.

Demolition teams bring down the unstable remainder of the Champlain Towers South condo building, late Sunday, July 4, 2021, in Surfside, Florida. (Associated Press)

County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the demolition of the remaining portion of the building was a necessary step for crews to continue their search for any possible survivors of the disaster.

"Bringing down this building in a controlled manner is critical to expanding the scope of our search-and-rescue effort," Cava told reporters at a news conference, according to The Associated Press. She told NBC "Today" show Monday morning that crews returned before midnight.

Cava and other officials have pledged that search efforts will continue in hopes of finding survivors even though the odds of finding anyone still alive after more than a week were not favorable.

"This rescue effort, as far as I'm concerned, will go on until everybody is pulled out of that debris," Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said earlier Sunday during an appearance on CBS News' "Face the Nation."

"Families realize that time has gone by, they realize that the chances are growing dimmer and dimmer," Cava acknowledged to NBC.

Concerns had developed in recent days that the still-standing portion of the building was unsafe and could have endangered search crews as they worked at the site, the AP reported.