Miami building collapse - updates: Death toll reaches 12 as extra rescue team requested amid tropical forecast
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The death toll from the collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, continues to rise, with 12 confirmed fatalities, and a further 149 people missing.
Authorities in Florida have asked the federal government to send another rescue team to aid its efforts amid reports that tropical storms could hit Miami in the coming days.
Over the weekend, US media reported that a Surfside official assured residents of the now-collapsed condominium that it was “in very good shape”, a month after an engineering report found it had “major structural damage”.
A resident of a sister building told reporters he had “concerns” about a crack that appeared n his block, Champlain Towers East, after Thursday’s tragedy. Residents in the block have been offered to evacuate, although there is no imminent threat.
It comes amid reports that the building’s developers broke rules by adding an additional floor to the 12-storey building, and afterwards ignored warnings of structural damage.
Those with family members who may have been in the building at the time of its collapse are asked to call 305-614-1819. More information here.
Follow The Independent’s liveblog of the Miami building collapse
Fifth person confirmed dead in Miami building collapse
The death toll rose to five people overnight on Saturday after search and rescue workers discovered another body and more human remains, according to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava of Miami-Dade County.
Authorities have not yet identified the victim to the public.
Already four victims were named by authorities as Antonio Lozano, 83, and Gladys Lozano, 79; Manuel LaFont; and Stacie Fang.
There are still at least 156 people unaccounted for since the Champlain Towers South building collapsed overnight on Thursday.
Search and rescue teams were still considering the site a rescue effort, but officials have warned loved ones of the missing victims that the death toll would likely continue to rise.
Large piece of rubble is removed from collapse site
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue shared a new video of them removing a large piece of rubble from the building collapse site, as rescue teams enter the fourth day of searching for survivors.
The work of first responders continues around the clock in the effort to find survivors in void spaces within the rubble of the #SurfsideBuildingCollapse,” the tweet read.
Watch the video here:
Authorities name four of the five victims
The Miami-Dade police shared the names and apartment details of four people who were confirmed dead in the residential building collapse.
(The police department later issued a correction that Manuel LaFont’s apartment number was #801)
Before building collapse, $9 million in repairs needed
Nearly three years before an oceanfront building collapsed near Miami an engineering firm estimated that major repairs the building needed would cost more than $9 million, according to newly released emails, the Associated Press reports.
The email from the firm of Morabito Consultants was among a series of documents released by the city of Surfside as rescue efforts continued at the site of the collapsed building, where more than 150 people remained unaccounted for. At least five people were killed in the collapse.
The release of the 2018 cost estimate followed the earlier publication of another document from the firm showing the ground-floor pool deck of the building was resting on a concrete slab that had “major structural damage” and needed to be extensively repaired. That report also uncovered “abundant cracking and spalling” of concrete columns, beams and walls in the parking garage.
Read the full report here:
Before building collapse, $9 million in repairs needed
Nearly three years before an oceanfront building collapsed near Miami, an engineering firm estimated the building needed more than $9 million in major repairs
Press conference happening soon
Officials are holding a news conference at 11am local time on Sunday morning to update the public on the Miami building collapse, the Miami-Dade Police Department announced on Twitter.
This comes as search and rescue teams enter the fourth day of searching for any survivors.
Death toll rises to nine
Search and rescue team recovered four additional bodies overnight, bringing the total death toll in the Miami building collapse to nine, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava of Miami-Dade County said on Sunday.
Four of the victims have been named after the next of kin was notified, but the other names have yet be released by authorities.
Breaking: Death toll rises to nine as rescuers dig trench for better access in rubble
The death toll rose to nine people overnight after search and rescue workers discovered four bodies and more human remains, according to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava of Miami-Dade County.
“As of today, one victim passed away in the hospital, and we’ve recovered eight more victims on-site, so I am confirming today that the death toll is at nine,” the mayor said during a Sunday news conference. “My deepest condolences to the friends, the families, the communities of those who lost their lives.”
Authorities have not yet released the names of five of the victims to the public.
More on the breaking news here:
Nine people now confirmed dead after Miami building collapse
The death toll rose to nine people overnight after search and rescue workers discovered four bodies and more human remains, according to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava of Miami-Dade County.
Workers get fire causing trouble under control
A fire burning deep through the rubble has been brought under control after causing trouble for search and rescue teams.
“Our teams have done an amazing job and yesterday we suppressed the fire that had been going out of control and the smoke that was inhibiting activities in certain parts of the pile, so around noon yesterday that was brought under control, making it possible for the search to continue in those areas as well,” said Mayor Daniella Levine Cava of Miami-Dade County during the Sunday press conference.
Smoke from the fire was causing the biggest issue for search and rescue teams into Saturday morning.
But they were able to dig trenches around the problem until other workers could get the fire under control.
Man says he has received 16 silent calls from missing grandparents' landline
One of the families of a couple who lived in the Miami-area apartment building that collapsed earlier this week says they haven't yet heard from them, but they have been getting unexplained silent phone calls from their landline.
Jake Samuelson told Florida's WPLG that his grandparents Arnie and Myriam Notkin are among the more than 150 people unaccounted for in the Champlain Towers collapse. The family hasn't heard from them since the disaster, but they have received 16 calls from the landline phone that was usually by the pair's bedside table.
"We were all sitting there in the living room, my whole family, Diane, my mother, and we were just shocked and we kind of thought nothing of it because we answered, and it was static," Mr Samuelson told the station.
The Independent’s Josh Marcus has the report:
Miami building collapse: Man says he has received 16 calls from his missing grandparents’ landline
More than 150 people still unaccounted for as search-and-rescue efforts continue
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