MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Another six bodies were discovered overnight in Surfside, bringing the death toll to 60, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava confirmed on Thursday.
She said another 80 people are potentially unaccounted for following the June 24 partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominiums. Detectives are working closely with crime scene and medical examiner personnel to identify victims and notify the next of kin as quickly as possible.
“Every victim that we recover is handled with extreme care and compassion,” Levine Cava said.
As of 10 a.m. Thursday, the mayor said 35 victims had been identified and 34 next of kin had been notified.
She said crews will be safeguarding personal items that are found, such as wallets and jewelry and electronics like tablets and cellphones.
She said families of the victims will be able to make reports about the items so they can claim them.
The mayor said first responders held a moment of silence around 1:20 a.m. to mark two weeks since the devastating collapse.
She said faith-based leaders have been embedded in the operation since the beginning, including rabbis and a faith-based organization to make sure that the remains of the Jewish victims are handled in a manner consistent with the Jewish faith.
“We have a tent designated on site and when a Jewish body is discovered a prayer is performed and specific protocols are followed to honor both the faith-based traditions and the integrity of the investigation,” she said.
During a Thursday morning briefing for families of the victims, officials said the Israeli search-and-rescue team would be wrapping up their part of the mission and leaving on Sunday.
Officials said they believe the deepest they’ve gone so far in the rubble is the fourth floor.
Families of the victims of the Surfside building collapse, along with first responders, neighbors and local officials, visited the memorial near the scene Wednesday night to comfort each other and pray after the search-and-rescue mission officially transitioned to a search-and-recovery mission.
The families are expected to visit the site of the collapse Thursday and speak with first responders.
The night prior, first responders stood side-by-side in silence to mark the painful reality that their mission had turned into a recovery one.
“At this point, we have truly exhausted every option available to us,” Levine Cava said Wednesday.
The mayor made the anticipated, yet still crushing announcement during a Wednesday afternoon press conference.
“It is with deep, profound sadness that this afternoon I’m able to share that we made the extremely difficult decision to transition from operation search-and-rescue to recovery,” she said. “To share this news with the families this evening who are still missing their loved ones was devastating.”
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said the decision was made as those closest to the rescue efforts say the possibility of now finding someone still alive is near zero.
“Once we pull the victim out, what we’re recognizing is, you know, human remains,” one rescue official said.
Search-and-rescue teams say because the condominium building collapsed in what they call a “pancake effect,” it left them with slim chances of finding survivors from the start.
For the past two weeks, K9s trained to find survivors in the rubble never picked up a scent.
“I’d like to extend my sincerest and heartfelt condolences to the families,” Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Alan Cominsky said.
