Rescuers at the site of a collapsed apartment tower in Surfside, Florida, found 10 additional victims in the rubble overnight, bringing the death toll from the tragedy to 46.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava confirmed that 94 people who are presumed to have been in the building at the time of the collapse are still missing. Two hundred people have been accounted for.
It's been nearly two weeks since the Champlain Towers South spontaneously collapsed on the morning of June 24. Since that morning, rescuers have not found any survivors in the wreckage.
During a Wednesday morning briefing, Miami-Dade Fire Chief Alan Cominsky said there is no evidence to indicate that any of the victims recovered so far survived the initial collapse.
Levine Cava said Tuesday that the families of those still missing are preparing for the worst.
"They know what is happening," she said. "They understand that the news of their loved ones may be tragic loss...they're prepared for it. Everybody will be ready when it's time to move to the next phase."
Officials say 32 of the 46 people killed in the accident have been identified. Thirty-one names of victims have been made public. They are:
- Hilda Noriega, 92
- Gino Cattarossi, 89
- Graciela Cattarossi, 86
- Claudio Bonnefoy, 85
- Antonio Lozano, 83
- Gonzalo Torre, 81
- Magaly Elena Delgado, 80
- Leon Oliwkowicz, 80
- Simon Segal, 89
- Gladys Lozano, 79
- Nancy Kress Levin, 76
- Christina Beatriz Elvira, 74
- Maria Obias-Bonnefoy, 69
- Tzvi Ainsworth, 68
- Francis Fernandez, 67
- Ingrid Ainsworth, 66
- David Epstein, 58
- Bonnie Epstein, 56
- Frank Kleiman, 55
- Staci Dawn Fang, 54
- Manuel LaFont, 54
- Marcus Joseph Guara, 52
- Jay Kleiman, 52
- Michael David Altman, 50
- Graciela Cattarossi, 48
- Anna Ortiz, 46
- Anaely Rodriguez, 42
- Luis Bermudez, 26
- Andreas Giannitsopoulous, 21
- Lucia Guara, 10
- Emma Guara, 4
Officials have also confirmed that the 7-year-old daughter of a Miami firefighter was also among those killed in the collapse. That girl's name has not been made public at the request of the family.
Search-and-rescue efforts at the site have continued unimpeded since Tropical Storm Elsa moved out of the area. Cominsky said Wednesday that there were no work stoppages reported overnight.
"Our first responders have searched that pile every day since the collapse like they were searching for their own children," Levine Cava said.
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said Wednesday that city officials were conducting tests on Champlain Towers North — the sister building of the tower that collapsed. That building had similar blueprints and was constructed during the same time period with similar materials.
Burkett said that analysts would review results from today's tests over the next several weeks to determine the building's structural soundness. While the north tower has not been evacuated, residents have been given alternative housing options if they no longer feel safe.
Levine Cava added Wednesday that an audit of 40 similar buildings in the county has only found one building with structural issues — a building in North Miami Beach that had issues with four balconies. That building has not been evacuated, and work is ongoing to fix those balconies.
An additional building in Miami Beach was evacuated last week.
Officials in Surfside will brief the media again 5:30 p.m. ET Wednesday.
