One year ago, Champlain Towers South – an apartment building near Miami – collapsed, killing 98 people. This film forensically examines what happened and asks: what went wrong? And could more buildings across the world be at risk of a similar catastrophic fate?
On 24 June 2021, Champlain Towers South – a 13-storey residential building in Surfside, Florida – collapsed in just 12 seconds. Fifty five apartments were reduced to rubble and 98 people lost their lives. What might have caused one of the worst building failures in modern history?
One year on, there is still no official explanation. This programme examines what went wrong and investigates the implications for other buildings around the world, including those in the UK.
We draw on emotional eye-witness testimony, tense bodycam footage from first responders, news archive and 3D CGI animations to piece together the definitive, moment-by-moment account of this disaster.
We recount the complex rescue and recovery operation, revealing astonishing against-all-odds stories of survival – and how rescuers excavated beneath the ruins of the devastated building in the desperate hunt for victims.
We explore the factors that might have led to the collapse, featuring case studies of other dramatic building collapses, and unpack the science and engineering behind them. We speak to leading forensic engineers and the investigating engineer for the town of Surfside. The building was in urgent need of repair – did this play a role in its failure?
The programme also looks to the future to ask what lessons we might learn from this disaster. In Scotland, more than half of all housing is in need of repairs to critical elements, and tenements are crumbling in cities like Glasgow. How should we tackle the problem of our ageing buildings, and what technological solutions could we adopt to prevent a future tragedy?
June 28 @ 21:30
21:30 — 22:30 (1h)
BBC Two