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Sunny Isles Mayor Responds To Devastating Building Explosion

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SUNNY ISLES (CBSMiami) – The mayor of Sunny Isles Beach says the contractor and developer of a building that exploded – injuring several people – have been cited.

"Since the explosion we have started a detailed process throughout our building department to analyze what happened and to find the cause of the blast," said Mayor Bud Scholl.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews said the explosion at the Chateau Beach Residences building located at 174th Street and Collins Avenue was first reported just before noon on Friday and was believed to have been caused by a gas leak.

But Scholl says the city now has a good idea of what caused explosion and are doling out citations as a result.

"On Monday morning, we revoked the building's temporary certificate of occupancy, also known as the TCO. It means folks can't live in the building.

"While nobody was in the building at the time of the explosion, the revocation of the TCO means folks cannot move in. The building is not appropriate for occupancy.

"There was a citation issued to the contractor that states purging of the gas piping system was not done in compliance with the Florida building code so they were cited yesterday.

"That was our building officials' immediate finding."

A total of six people were injured in the blast – four civilians and two firefighters.

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