The death toll in an apartment building collapse in Florida has risen to 78, while 14 bodies have been recovered from the rubble. Officials gave this information on Friday.
“This is a shocking and heartbreaking number that deeply affects all of us,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Danielle Levine Cava.
Champlain Towers South, a 12-story building in Surfside, a city north of Miami Beach, collapsed on June 24 as dozens of residents fell asleep inside.
No one has been found alive since the day of the fall.
The mayor said 42 of the 78 victims had been identified and 62 were still missing.
Officials announced on Wednesday that they had decided to turn it into an operation to recover remains from a search and rescue mission for potential survivors.
The mayor of the city of 6,000 residents, Charles Burkett, lauded the “truly incredible” progress of the search and rescue teams, which are working round the clock at the tragedy site.
Burkett said the building was about four storeys high after the debris collapsed, but is now almost at ground level.
Miami-Dade Fire Chief Alan Kominsky said the victims were found “in a pile of rubble all over”.
But recovery efforts have been focused on areas where the stairs may have fallen, he said, as people could have been trapped in the stairs trying to escape.
Various investigations are being conducted to ascertain the cause of the collapse.
A 2018 report released by city officials revealed fears of “major structural damage” to the complex, from the concrete slabs under the pool deck to the columns and beams in the parking garage.
In a letter to residents in April, condo association president Jean Wodnicky described “sharp” damage to the 40-year-old building since then and that repairs were about to begin.
Local officials ordered a safety review of nearby buildings after the disaster, including the condo block’s sister tower Champlain Towers North, which collapsed.
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