More bodies were found in the collapse of an apartment building in Florida, the first funeral was held by Reuters

Francisco Alvarado

Surfside, Fla. (Reuters)-On Tuesday, search and rescue teams rescued the remains of eight other victims from the rubble of an apartment building in Florida. After removing a fragile part that was still standing, they were able to Go deep into the scene.

The confirmed death toll is now 36, but there are still 109 people who may have been considered missing in the Champlain Tower South when it collapsed on June 24. As detectives confirm names, this number may change.

The Mayor of Miami-Dade, Daniella Levine Cava, said at a press conference: “I ask everyone around the world to continue to follow this story. Please let these victims remember and take care of them. Prayer.”

Hours after hundreds of mourners gathered at the Miami Beach church for the first funeral for the collapsed victims, Levenkava announced the latest death toll.

52-year-old Marcus Guara, his 42-year-old wife Ana Guara, and their 10-year-old daughters Lucia and 4-year-old Emma are remembered , They are a close family, they like to walk on the beach and spend time together.

“A few weeks ago, who would have thought that our community had so many connections with a small building in a small corner called Surfside in Florida,” Marcus Guara’s cousin Peter Milián said in a eulogy for his family.

Tropical storm Elsa’s approach

Although Elsa has intensified into a Category 1 hurricane and is expected to make landfall on the northern Gulf Coast of Florida on Wednesday morning, the search for more victims continues.

Forecasters said Surfside is likely not to be the worst affected by the storm, but because of concerns that high winds might blow it down, local officials demolished a still-existing part of the 12-story tower on Sunday night.

The lightning brought by Elsa forced the search and rescue team to suspend operations for a period of time on Tuesday. Officials said their mission may be interrupted again before the storm passes.

Although local officials said they did not give up hope of finding survivors, no one has been found in the rubble since the first few hours after the collapse of Champlain Tann.

Miami-Dade County Fire Chief Allen Kominsky said rescuers did not find any “livable spaces” where survivors could survive.

More than 124 tons or 5 million pounds of debris have been removed from the scene, and the identifiable debris was sent to the police warehouse for use in upcoming investigations, including grand jury investigations.

Investigators have not yet determined what caused the tower to collapse. Attention has been focused on an engineering report in 2018 that warned of structural deficiencies.

The disaster prompted South Florida officials to study whether there are signs of poor construction or structural weakness in residential buildings.

Residents of Crestview Towers, a North Miami Beach condominium, were told to leave immediately after engineers discovered serious concrete and electrical problems last week. As city officials tried to determine whether the building could be supported to make it safe, they were not allowed to return.