Washington, (Asian independent) The confirmed death toll in the partial collapse of a 12-story residential building in Surfside, southeastern US state Florida, has risen to 32, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said on Tuesday.
“Through the team’s ongoing efforts, we have recovered four additional victims,” the mayor said at a news briefing.
“The number of confirmed deaths is now 32 with 26 of those identified. 191 people are accounted for and we have 113 reports of people who are potentially unaccounted for,” said Levine Cava.
Wind gusts and heavy rains from Tropical Storm Elsa are expected in Surfside on Tuesday. The mayor said that search continued overnight through “extremely adverse and challenging conditions”, the Xinhua news agency reported.
The collapse occurred around 1:15 a.m. (about 0530 GMT) on June 24 at the Champlain Towers South condominium in the beachside town that sits around 9.6 km north of Miami Beach.
Since the collapse, multiple Miami-area buildings have been evacuated, according to local media reports.
