Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Tuesday evening during a press conference that the death toll from a collapse condominium tower had risen to 12 after first responders pulled an additional body from the rubble.
Cava said rescue crews recovered the body on Tuesday. She added that 149 people remain unaccounted for, and 125 have been accounted for following the Thursday morning collapse.
Eleven of the 12 deceased have been identified:
- Marcus Joseph Guara, 52
- Frank Kleiman, 55
- Michael David Altman, 50
- Leon Oliwkowicz, 80
- Luis Bermudez, 26
- Anna Ortiz, 46
- Christina Beatriz Elvira, 74
- Stacie Dawn Fang, 54
- Antonio Lozano, 83
- Gladys Lozano, 79
- Manuel LaFont, 54
Rescuers continue their efforts to search beneath the fallen 12-story wing of the Champlain Towers condo building. Scripps station WPTV says that the painstaking and grueling search-and-rescue effort is now in its sixth day; Cava said 210 first responders are currently working on the mound of rubble in 12-hour shifts.
"They live to save lives, and that is what we are witnessing," Cava said. "We truly have the best in the world conducting this effort."
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Alan Cominsky said crews are conducting a search grid layer-by-layer and removing chunks of debris piece-by-piece.
Cominsky said first responders have moved approximately three million pounds of concrete and are using sonar and video equipment to search for any signs of life in the tight, enclosed spaces of the rubble.
"This is a very tedious effort," Cominsky said. "It's methodical, very difficult process. As we're removing debris, we're just finding more debris that's just, concrete pulverized. It's extremely difficult."
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According to the Associated Press, a grand jury investigation will be requested by prosecutors, officials said. Cava said earlier Tuesday at a news conference that she fully supports such an investigation.
On Tuesday, the White House said President Joe Biden would travel to Surfside on Thursday.
