Members of the South Florida Urban Search and Rescue Team are searching for possible survivors in the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South Condo building on Saturday. Rescue workers found another body on Saturday. Joe Raedle / Getty Images Hide caption
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Joe Raedle / Getty Images
Members of the South Florida Urban Search and Rescue Team are searching for possible survivors in the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South Condo building on Saturday. Rescue workers found another body on Saturday.
Joe Raedle / Getty Images
Rescue workers in Surfside, Florida, recovered a body from among the rubble of the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South Saturday, bringing the death toll to five.
Authorities also notified the families of three previously unidentified victims, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Saturday night, changing the total to 156 missing and 130.
Miami-Dade police identified four of the five victims in a tweet on Saturday night. They are: Stacie Dawn Fang, 54; Antonio Lozano, 83; Gladys Lozano, 79; Manuel LaFont, 54.
Mayor Levine Cava told reporters that the rescue effort had made some progress. A deep fire in the rubble that had hampered the rescuers was mostly extinguished, allowing personnel to search the rubble more effectively.
Miami-Dade fire chief Alan Cominsky said rescuers are continuing an “aggressive search and rescue strategy.” He said the emergency services were able to contain the fire and minimize smoke on Saturday morning. They continued to search for people using sonar, dogs and video equipment, he said.
Authorities collect DNA samples from family members of the missing people in order to identify potential victims.
Meanwhile, residents of the Champlain Towers North building one block down are concerned about the solidity of their building. Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told reporters that the North building was built around the same time by the same developer and “was likely built to the same plans, probably using the same materials.”
Burkett said an officer from the Surfside building inspected Champlain Towers North and a “cursory inspection” found nothing unusual. But it wasn’t a “deep dive”. He said this would likely take a couple of weeks and the Federal Emergency Management Agency would be able to assist residents with housing should they wish to evacuate. However, there is currently no compulsory evacuation order for the north building.
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