Bodies of two children, ages 4 and 10, found in rubble of collapsed building; death toll rises to 18: What we know
SURFSIDE, Fla. – The bodies of two children were found in the rubble of the collapsed condo building outside Miami on Wednesday, raising the death toll in the disaster to 18.
The children were 4 and 10 years old, said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who provided the update at an afternoon news conference. The number of missing people is now 145.
“Any loss of life, especially given the nature of this unexpected, unprecedented event, is a tragedy,” Levine Cava said. “But the loss of our children is too great to bear.”
Earlier in the day, Levine Cava has said four additional victims had been identified, at the time bringing the total to 16. Search officials vowed to press on with the rescue effort around the clock despite the possibility of tropical storms approaching the area.
As families cling to fading hope, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said many have asked him when efforts will turn from a rescue to a recovery mission and wondered how long a person could survive under the heaps of rubble.
Authorities reiterated that work at the site was a search-and-rescue effort, and workers would continue sifting through the rubble, listening and looking for signs of life.
“We’re not leaving anybody behind,” Burkett said Wednesday. “This is going to go until we pull everyone out of there.”
Families have also expressed frustration over possible severe weather in the coming days that may cause further delays in massive search and rescue efforts that include hundreds of rescuers rotating in 12-hour shifts at the site. President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he and first lady Jill Biden would visit the site of the collapse Thursday.
Here’s what we know Wednesday:
From hotel next door, building collapse sounded like ‘bombs dropping in the air’
Daniel Groves thought he was hearing “bombs dropping in the air” when a terrible noise woke him up along with his family early in the morning of June 24. From the balcony of their hotel room in Surfside, Florida, all Groves could see was clouds of dust, and as evacuation alarms sounded, he thought a tornado or thunderstorm had hit the area.
Crews battle weather, time in identifying victims
Emergency crews aren’t just battling summer weather, smoldering fire and dangerous debris in their race to find unaccounted-for victims. They’re fighting time, heat, water and other factors that will make it harder to identify the dead.
The longer the search takes, the more likely it is that human remains will have decomposed significantly, making DNA identification more challenging, experts say.
Investigators first look for clothing or for IDs in victims’ pockets or purses. However, most residents were asleep and may not have been wearing easily identifiable clothing and may not have had their driver’s licenses.
The bodies of many victims may have been crushed in the collapse, making easy identification impossible. The next option for investigators is to look for teeth and dental work, which can be compared with dental X-rays. They look for signs of medical implants, which might have identification numbers, and check fingerprints against official records.
But the force of tons of rubble may have pulverized jawbones and teeth. Exposure to South Florida’s heat, humidity and rainfall, plus a smoldering fire, water and other liquids in the rubble may have obliterated fingerprints, said Victor Weedn, Maryland’s chief medical examiner and a DNA expert on the faculty of George Washington University’s Department of Forensic Sciences.
Authorities released the names of victims who have been identified: Stacie Fang, 54; Marcus Joseph Guara, 52; Frank Kleiman, 55; Michael Davis Altman, 50; Leon Oliwkowicz, 80, and his wife Christina Beatriz Elvira de Oliwkowicz, 74; Luis Bermudez, 26, and his mother Ana Ortiz, 46; Antonio Lozano, 83; Gladys Lozano, 79; Manuel LaFont, 54; and Hilda Noriega, 92.
The first victim to be identified was Fang, whose 15-year-old son was pulled alive from the wreckage.
Noriega was the latest victim to be identified, and her family was notified Tuesday evening. After living in her sixth-floor condo for more than 20 years, Noriega had recently put it up for sale and was planning to move in with relatives.
In a statement, the family thanked first responders and officials for identifying her. Noriega’s son, Carlos Noriega, is the police chief of the nearby suburb of North Bay Village.
“The Noriegas have lost the ‘heart and soul’ and ‘matriarch’ of their family but will get through this time by embracing the unconditional love Hilda was known for,” the statement said. “The family has asked for privacy as they deal with this horrific and painful loss.”
Survivors search for pets lost in rubble
Many survivors are also desperate to find their pets who are missing amid the rubble.
The Friends of Miami Animals Foundation announced Tuesday a hotline for residents searching for pets and hopes to create a database of the missing animals.
Two cats –Mia and Coco –are the only animals believed to possibly still be inside the part of Champlain Towers South that is still standing and has been evacuated, according to the Friends of Miami Animal Foundation.
The foundation has had several residents reach out regarding their missing pets, but the only two who were known for sure to be left in the building are Mia and Coco, a representative for the foundation told USA TODAY.
Miami Dade County & Miami Dade Animal Services are aware of the missing pets reported and are prepared to “respond as needed,” according to a statement from the foundation.
Local business owners overwhelmed
Surfside business owners were so overwhelmed by last week’s tragedy that it took some of them several days to return to work.
Martie Robbins, owner of 7th Plateau jewelry store, lives in Hollywood, Florida. But her shop has had a Surfside presence for 50 years, just blocks from the collapse that has so far claimed 12 lives.
“I couldn’t even come into work until yesterday,” Robbins said Tuesday. “I didn’t want to open the store, I didn’t want to, you know. Like who cares about this versus that tragedy?”
While she may not know them all by name, Robbins can see the faces of her clients in portraits of the missing and the dead.
Abe and Peggy Sreter, owners of The Carrot kosher restaurant, live nearby in Bal Harbour.
Sreter said she has three friends who survived the collapse. But she also knows some of the missing, such as someone she counts as a “customer and friend,” Brad Cohen. The Sreters and Cohen attend the same synagogue, The Shul of Bal Harbour.
Like Robbins, Sreter also stayed away from work for a few days, consumed by grief.
“It affected me mentally for a few days,” Sreter said. “I felt like so sad to be here. But then yesterday I said that’s it, you have to come back, you have to attend your business.”
– Maya Lora, the Lakeland Ledger
Contributing: Nate Monroe and Katherine Lewin, The Florida Times-Union; Maya Lora, the Lakeland Ledger; Rebecca Morin, Jennifer Sangalang, John Kennedy and Chelsey Cox, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
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