The death toll from the partial collapse of a 12-story residential building in the US beachside town of Surfside, southeastern state Florida, has risen to five, authorities said on Saturday.
"Today our search and rescue teams found another body in the rubble," Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at a news conference Saturday evening.
"Our search has revealed some human remains," said the mayor, adding that there are now 130 people accounted for and 156 unaccounted for.
"Our top priority continues to be search and rescue and saving any lives that we can," she added. Fire and smoke deep within the mountain of rubble hampered search efforts through Saturday.
The Champlain Towers South condominium, built in 1981, partially collapsed around 1:30 a.m. local time (about 0530 GMT) on Thursday in Surfside, around 9.6 km north of Miami Beach, the Xinhua news agency reported.
About 70 of the condo's 130 apartments were destroyed or damaged, according to Frank Rollason, director of Miami-Dade Emergency Management.
A media report said that nearly three years before the collapse, a structural field survey found that there was "major structural damage" to the concrete slab below the pool deck and "cracking and spalling" in the parking garage.
The first lawsuit, seeking $5 million in damages for the victims of the condo collapse, was filed late on Thursday.
Rubble hangs from a partially collapsed building in Surfside, Florida, north of Miami Beach, on June 26, 2021 | AFP
Rescue workers continue to search the rubble at the site of a collapsed building in Surfside, Florida, north of Miami Beach, on June 26, 2021. | AFP
Rescue workers continue to search the rubble at the site of a collapsed building in Surfside, Florida, north of Miami Beach, on June 26, 2021. | AFP
Republican Senator for Florida Marco Rubio (L), speaks to the media near the site of a collapsed building in Surfside, Florida, north of Miami Beach, on June 26, 2021. | AFP
A woman reacts as she watches rescue workers searching the rubble at the site of a collapsed building in Surfside, Florida, north of Miami Beach, on June 26, 2021. | AFP
A woman prays as rescue workers search the rubble at the site of a collapsed building in Surfside, Florida, north of Miami Beach, on June 26, 2021. | AFP
People pray together near the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building on June 26, 2021 in Surfside, Florida. | AFP
A couple becomes emotional as they visit pray near the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building on June 26, 2021 in Surfside, Florida. | AFP
(By agencies)
