Death toll climbs to five at collapsed Florida building

SURFSIDE, Fla. (Reuters), 26 June, 2021-The death toll rose to five on Saturday at the site of the Florida building collapsewhere rescue workers methodically searched for more than 150 missing residents whilefirefighters made progress in battling a smoldering fire in the mountain of debris.

Search-and-rescue teams found one victim at the site in Surfside, a shore town near Miami, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said during an evening news briefing.
“Our top priority continues to be search and rescue and saving any lives that we can,” Levine Cava said.

The search effort has revealed some human remains while three other victims were identified and their family members notified, she said.

A newly released 2018 report showed that an engineer found evidence of major structural damage beneath the pool deck and “concrete deterioration” in the underground parking garage of the 12-story oceanfront condominium, three years before it collapsed without warning on Thursday as most residents slept.