“We remain hopeful. (…) We are looking for people living in the rubble, it is our priority and our teams have not stopped ”. Despite these words from Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, the anxiety of families facing endless wait is growing. Rescue workers continued their search on Saturday in the rubble of the residential building in Surfside, Florida three days after its spectacular collapse which left five dead and 156 missing, according to the latest report.
“Our rescue teams found another body in the rubble, and our search also uncovered human remains,” said the mayor. After the identification of three of the bodies previously found, “it means that the number of missing goes down to 156, and that the number of confirmed deaths rises to five,” she added.
The search was complicated Saturday by a fire that broke out at the site where the twelve-story building, named Champlain Towers, collapsed before dawn Thursday. The smoke has spread through the rubble making some research areas inaccessible, according to Daniella Levine Cava. The firefighters asked residents to stay at home, windows and doors closed, to protect themselves from the fumes.
Israel sends experts and rescuers
Tangle of beams and metal, piles of rubble, the smell of charred rubber and plastic… Despite the fire, rescuers, dog units and cranes have frantically searched the ruins of the building for three days. To help them, Israel on Saturday announced the dispatch of experts and rescuers. The town of Surfside is home to a large Jewish community and rabbis have been mobilized to provide support to evacuated Jewish residents and their loved ones. This disaster remains unexplained for the time being.