Mexico's elite 'moles' and Israeli engineers respond to Miami’s Surfside disaster

World's most experienced search and rescue workers rush to find survivors

Rescue personnel sift through rubble for survivors at Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida. Part of the apartment block collapsed and most of its occupants remain missing. AP

Water is sprayed on the debris to douse any remaining fire. ​AP

Search and rescue teams look for survivors at the site of the partially collapsed 12-storey apartment block. Miami Herald via AP

A search and rescue worker tips rubble into a skip. Miami Herald via AP

Rescue work continues at what was the north-west corner of Champlain Towers South. Miami Herald via AP

A piece of concrete is removed to help search and rescue teams look for survivors and recover the bodies of other residents. Getty

A sniffer dog is deployed to search for survivors and remains. Miami Herald via AP

Emergency workers conduct search and rescue efforts. Reuters

As the search for survivors from the Surfside residential tower collapse enters its ninth day, at least 300 rescuers from the US Army Corps of Engineers and local fire services are trying to locate about 150 unaccounted for people in the rubble.

But the effort has been bolstered by specialists from around the world.

The most famous among them are Mexico’s internationally renowned Topos de Tlatelolco, or “Tlatelolco moles”, but the Israeli military has also sent a team of search and rescue professionals.

In 1985 a magnitude 8.1 earthquake struck Mexico City, levelling hundreds of buildings and killing at least 5,000 people.

As the dust settled, there was one glaring problem: the state could not provide the necessary specialist disaster rescue services.

Who are Los Topos?

Enter Los Topos - "the moles" - local volunteers who quickly garnered a reputation for burrowing deep into the dangerous rubble of toppled buildings.

Originally from the impoverished neighbourhood of Tlatelolco, the moles began by digging with their bare hands.

Founding members say they were driven by a passion for finding survivors and camaraderie among the group soon led to them establishing a permanent volunteer service, with recruits travelling to San Salvador in October 1986, their first foreign rescue mission.

Since then, the group has been formally recognised by Mexican authorities and members receive specialist training, co-operating with the Mexican fire and health services, as well as international search and rescue organisations.

Since their founding, the Topos have participated in 70 search and rescue missions following a wide range of catastrophes including the 9/11 terrorist attacks to the collapse of a mine in Chile as well as numerous earthquakes such as the Haiti disaster in 2010.

The Israeli rescuers - the National Rescue Unit - include about 10 reserve officers from the Home Front Command, along with Foreign Ministry personnel.

They arrived in Miami early on Sunday, three days after Champlain Tower South partially collapsed without warning while people slept early on Thursday.

Commanded by Col Golan Vach, 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 Col Vach, wearing a religious skullcap and army green uniform, with an Israeli flag patch on one sleeve.

Col Vach's team has consulted with the families to get the best idea of where their relatives might have been within their apartments when 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, Col Vach said.

Authorities have said that they could still find survivors as their search stretched into its ninth day, with 16 people confirmed dead.

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

On the beach, a few hundred metres 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.

Col 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", Col 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", Col 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.