The death toll rose to five at the site of the Florida building collapse where rescue workers searched for more than 150 missing residents while firefighters battled a smouldering fire.
Florida condo collapse: Smoldering debris slowing rescue efforts as 156 still missing
By Megan Ziegler
Florida authorities provide update on deadly condo collapse
Florida authorities and officials gave the latest death toll and missing numbers after a condo collapsed in Surfside.
SURFSIDE, Fla. - Search and rescue efforts Saturday at the site of a collapsed condominium building in Florida were hindered by a deep, smoldering fire amid the rubble.
Officials said at a morning press conference that air quality at the site is a concern and that, as they continue to remove and rearrange the debris, adding more air to crevices in their search for possible survivors could cause the smoldering fire to flare up. The concrete and metal remains of the collapsed 12-story tower stood at more than 30-feet high.
Members of the South Florida Urban Search and Rescue team look for possible survivors in the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building on June 26, 2021 in Surfside, Florida. (JOE RAEDLE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
SURFSIDE, Florida (AP) Rescue crews found another body in the rubble of a collapsed 12-story condominium tower near Miami on Saturday, raising the death toll to five as they raced to recover any survivors while fighting back fire and smoke deep inside the concrete and metal remains.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced the new toll at an evening media briefing, saying the discovery of the body dropped the number of unaccounted for down to 156. She said crews struggling throughout the day in the debris also found other unspecified human remains.