This week, emergency workers are looking for survivors in the ruins of a collapsed 12-story building near Miami.

A smoldering fire is still in the ruins of a 12-story building Collapsed near the city of Miami, USA This week’s rescue work has become complicated. Officials said there are still 159 people missing.

On Saturday, emergency responders continued to search for potential survivors under the rubble at the site of the building collapse on Thursday in the nearby town of Surfside (Surfside), which killed at least four people.

Rescuers used infrared technology, water and foam to extinguish the fire, the source of which is not yet known.

At a press conference, the Mayor of Miami-Dade, Daniella Levine Cava (Daniella Levine Cava) stated that smoke constitutes the biggest challenge. She described the fire as “very deep” and said rescuers were facing “incredibly difficult” due to the fire.

“The stench is strong,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis added with the mayor.

At noon, rescuers were clearing the rubble to control the dust, and pungent smoke erupted from the balcony on the second floor of the part where the building was still standing.

“The most important thing now is hope,” said Fire Chief Allen Kominsky. “This is our motivation. This is an extremely difficult situation.”

At the same time, a newly released 2018 report showed that an engineer found evidence of major structural damage under the pool deck and found “concrete aging” in the apartment’s underground parking lot.

Engineer Frank Morabito warned that the waterproof material installed under the pool deck had failed due to a major error in the design.

“Failed waterproofing is causing major structural damage to the concrete structural panels below these areas,” he wrote. “If the waterproof material is not replaced in the near future, it will cause the deterioration of concrete to expand exponentially.”

It is not clear whether the damage described in the report is related to the collapse of the building at 1:30 AM local time (0530 GMT) on Thursday. Officials said the building has more than 130 units, of which about 80 units have been occupied. About half seemed to have collapsed.

Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro reported on Surfside on Saturday that investigators will include the engineer’s report in their investigation of the collapse of the building.

Zhou-Castro said: “Out of caution, county officials here stated that they are immediately reviewing all other similar or older buildings in the county (this is a 40-year-old building).”

“But of course, for the families of the 159 possible souls who are still trapped under this rubble, it is a painful wait-not only because they are waiting for the answer to how this happened, but more importantly, waiting. The answer to the fate of their loved one.”

Rachel Spiegel’s mother, 66-year-old Judy Spiegel, lives on the sixth floor of the building. When speaking with her siblings on Saturday, she said that the family “is trying to bring them together.”

“I know my mother is a fighter,” Spiegel said. “I know she loves us. I know she doesn’t want to give up. So, you know, it’s the third day, so it’s hard.”

A couple on the beach reacts near a collapsed building in Surfside [Marco Bello/Reuters]