‘THIS IS HUGE’

‘Please Help Me!’: Horrific Bodycam Clip Shows Chaos Moments After Surfside Condo Collapse

The footage comes from three of the first Surfside officers to arrive at the disaster site.

The panicked screams of victims in the Surfside condo collapse can be heard in harrowing bodycam footage shot moments after the disaster. The clips, obtained by the Miami Herald, came from the bodycams of three of the first Surfside officers who arrived at the scene in the early hours of June 24. The first, from Surfside Officer Craig Lovellette, shows him calling his supervisor while distant screams can be heard in the background. “The Champlain Towers, the building collapsed. The Champlain Towers building collapsed. The back part of the building collapsed,” the officer says. “This is huge. I mean humongous.” Throughout the footage, people can be heard shouting “Help!” and “Over here!” as sirens blare from the arriving emergency responders. One clip shows an officer begging people to stay away from the wreckage, telling them: “We don’t know if this is going to fall this way. I need you to go. Please.” In the subsequent weeks, police would go on to identify 98 people who were killed in the disaster.