The official death toll of the Champlain Towers South condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida, increased to 79 on Friday, as officials announced that 15 more bodies were pulled from the rubble.
What You Need To Know
- The official death toll of the Champlain Towers South condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida, increased to 79 on Friday, as officials announced that 15 more bodies were pulled from the rubble
- Fifty-three of the victims have been identified, and 61 people remain “potentially unaccounted for,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said
- A cat named Binx that lived on the ninth floor of Champlain Towers South was found near the site alive and has been reunited with his family
- Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett discussed the efforts to return personal items to the families of those who died in the June 24 collapse
Fourteen victims had been recovered between the Thursday evening press briefing and Friday’s noon update, and one additional body was found Friday afternoon.
“This is a staggering and heartbreaking number that affects all of us very, very deeply,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at the earlier briefing.
“All those who have passed … are leaving behind loved ones,” the mayor added. “They’re leaving behind devastated families. The magnitude of this tragedy is growing each and every day. It’s an aching hole in the center of this close-knit family here in Surfside.”
Fifty-three of the victims have been identified, and 51 next of kin have been notified, Levine Cava said.
Sixty-one people remain “potentially unaccounted for.” Levine Cava said detectives are continuing to audit the list by cross-referencing names against U.S. Postal Service, driver’s license and other databases.
At the later press conference, Levine Cava shared what she called “a small piece of good news”: Sixteen days after the collapse, a cat named Binx that lived on the ninth floor of Champlain Towers South was found near the site alive and has been reunited with his family.
“I’m glad that this small miracle could bring some light into the lives of a hurting family today and provide a great spot for our whole community in the midst of this terrible tragedy,” Levine Cava said.
The search efforts officially transitioned from a rescue to recovery mission early Thursday morning, but crews continue to work around the clock.
Recovering victims and removing debris are not the only work being done at the site. Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett discussed the efforts to return personal items to the families of those who died in the June 24 collapse. He said workers are “accepting, identifying, labeling, categorizing and storing all of the families’ valuables, personal items, keepsakes and other family treasures,” which are being guarded 24 hours a day. Crews are using GPS technology to place the items found near the families’ units to have a better idea of to whom the possessions might have belonged, Burkett said.
“We owe a duty to the families, and I’m proud of the Dade County team within the Police Department who is undertaking this very, very important work,” Burkett said. “It means a lot to the families.”
Burkett said the debris pile has been dramatically reduced “almost to the point where it’s at ground level in many places, and actually below.” Levine Cava said 13 million pounds of concrete have been removed from the site, with 60 trucks a day working at the site.
Also Friday, Levine Cava said the Broward County medical examiner’s office arrived to provide relief for the Miami-Dade County medical examiner’s office.
“It is very, very valuable and critical that we provide some relief to those men and women working in the medical examiner’s office doing this vital work,” Levine Cava said.
Three people were injured at the collapse site since Thursday, officials said. One experienced a cardiac episode and is hospitalized in stable condition, another suffered a laceration requiring stitches, and a police officer’s foot was run over by a truck.
