Rescue effort suspended at Surfside as building shifts hours before Biden arrival

18 bodies have been found so far

Rescue personnel continue the search and rescue operation at the site of the partially collapsed building in Surfside on 30 June, 2021 (REUTERS)

The rescue mission at the Miami condo complex that part toppled last week has been paused following worries the rest of the building could collapse.

This pause comes as South Florida braces for a potential tropical storm and the building is visited by President Joe Biden later today.

“It’s on stand by right now,” a police officer said.

So far 18 bodies have been found in the rescue effort and 145 people remain missing.

Last night rescuers found the bodies of two sisters, Lucia Guara, 10, and Emma Guara, 4 in the rubble. Their parents also did not survive.

The rescue effort has brought in specially-trained emergency workers from across the world including Mexico and Israel.

More than 400 rescue workers are at the scene, rotating in and out from the rubble every 45 minutes during 12-hour shifts. At any given time, six or seven squads — each with six members — tramp over the mountain of debris or tunnel into it.

No one has been pulled out alive from the ruins since the first hours after the building fell.

Work was officially stopped around 3am local time on Thursday amid fears the rubble was shifting.

It currently remains uncertain why the building, which was only 40 years old, fell as people slept.

Yesterday, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology said they planned to begin a full investigation into the collapse.

Associated Press contributed to this report