The toll rises to 9 dead

The death toll from a dramatic building collapse near Miami, Florida has fallen from 5 to 9, authorities said on Sunday, as more than 150 people remain missing. “We were able to find four more bodies in the rubble, as well as additional human remains,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at a press conference.

At least 156 missing people

“At present, one person has died in the hospital, and we have found eight victims there, so I confirm today that the death toll is nine,” she added. “We are doing our best to identify these other people who have been found,” she said. Local police have already released the identities of four of the first victims. The mayor did not specify the exact new toll of the missing, but it stood at 156 people on Saturday.

The search continues day and night at the scene of the tragedy in the hope of finding survivors, even if the chances are gradually dwindling, more than 80 hours after the disaster. “We have all the resources we need for this work,” assured Daniella Levine Cava, speaking of “hundreds” of rescuers mobilized, ready to take turns providing relief for these operations. The authorities must arbitrate between delicate research, favoring acoustics and the maintenance of possible air pockets, and those using large mechanical devices to clear the rubble, these heavy means being likely to cause the mountain to collapse further. rubble.

A trench in the ruins to find the victims

The rescuers thus adopted the strategy of digging a trench in the ruins. “This trench is now crucial in the pursuit of research,” Mayor Daniella Levine Cava explained Sunday.
The trench now reaches a length of 38 meters, for a width of six meters and a depth of 12 meters, she said. Before dawn Thursday, the twelve floors of an oceanfront complex named Champlain Towers collapsed in Surfside, in the southeastern United States. The tragedy affected around 55 apartments.