The death toll from the collapse of an apartment in Florida rises to 90, of which 31 are missing Reuters

Peter Seckley

(Reuters)-Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava (Daniella Levine Cava) said that as staff continued to search for human remains in the wreckage of the building, it was caused by the collapse of an apartment in the Miami area on Sunday. The death toll rose from 86 to 90.

Levin Kava said at a briefing that 31 people “may be missing.”

She said that although there is concern that many people have died in the concrete and reinforced rubble of the 12-story Surfside beach building that partially collapsed in the early morning of June 24, some of the missing persons were discovered through detective work.

Although only four other bodies were found, the list of “unaccounted for” has dropped by 12 since Saturday.

Levin Kava said: “Our detectives are continuing to make progress in their audits and their diligent efforts, studying and verifying all reports on the missing person list, and working with family members to open the missing persons police report.”

Since the first few hours after the collapse, no survivors have been rescued from the rubble, and officials announced last week that their search efforts have shifted from rescue to rescue.

Levine Cava said there were only a few safety-related pauses, and the workers worked around the clock and had removed 14 million pounds (6,350 tons) of concrete and debris from the site.

The mayor of Surfside, Charles Burkett, said that debris that was once four to five stories high has been reduced to the ground where some workers saw cars in underground parking lots.

Burkert said that while the search team carefully screened the wreckage, they had been watching for personal belongings being cataloged and returned to the victims’ families.

“The work is still very detailed, we even found complete bottles in the rubble and found them,” he added.

Investigators have not yet determined what caused part of the 40-year-old Champlain South Tower to fall apart without warning. Attention has been focused on an engineering report in 2018 that warned of structural deficiencies.

Local prosecutor Catherine Fernandez Landel said last week that the incumbent grand jury agreed to “study how to prevent such disasters from recurring in coastal buildings,” and its findings will be published in the report.

She added that after Hurricane Andrew devastated the area in 1992, the work of the Dade County grand jury led to improvements in building codes.

The collapse has triggered scrutiny of other buildings. Residents of the nearby Crestview Towers apartment were told to leave after engineers discovered serious concrete and electrical problems last week. On Saturday, they have 15 minutes to retrieve personal belongings.

Burkett said a test of Champlain Towers North, the sister building of a doomed apartment nearby, found that its concrete “reached or exceeded the level it should be.”