As Condo Crashed Down, They Escaped Through Smoke and Ruin

Alfredo Lopez talks about how his family escaped from the Champlain Towers South condo building in Surfside, Fla., on June 27, 2021. Stacey Plaisance/AP Photo

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.—Alfredo Lopez and his wife Marian were asleep when the first thundering blast jolted them awake. Moments later, a second boom, much louder than the first, shook their bed on the sixth floor of their Miami apartment.

Alfredo rushed to wake his 24-year-old son Michael, urging him to get dressed, before running to the balcony window.