2 more bodies have been recovered from the rubble of the collapsed Florida condo, including child of Miami firefighter
- Two more bodies were pulled from the rubble of the collapsed Florida condo, officials said.
- Search-and-rescue crews at the site of Champlain Towers South recovered the victims on Thursday.
- Twenty people have been confirmed dead in the June 24 collapse; 128 people remain unaccounted for.
Two more bodies, including a child of a Miami firefighter, have been pulled from the rubble of the partly collapsed condo tower in Surfside, Florida, raising the confirmed death toll to 20, officials said on Friday.
Search-and-rescue crews at the site of the crumbled 12-story Champlain Towers South in Surfside recovered the additional victims on Thursday night.
"Tragically one of those was the 7-year-old daughter of a city of Miami firefighter," Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told reporters.
Cava said that 128 people remain unaccounted for in the June 24 collapse, and 188 people are accounted for.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Alan Cominsky commented on the toll it takes on first responders who have recovered victims - especially the child of a local firefighter - from the rubble.
"Every victim we remove, it's difficult. It's very difficult," Cominsky said. "Unfortunately, we haven't been able to remove survivors yet, but it's very difficult, and last night was even more when removing a fellow firefighter's daughter."
"That's what I want to emphasize: the emotion, you know, what we're feeling as firefighters," he said. "What we do, it's kind of a calling. We always say that, but it takes a toll."
Cominsky explained, "Obviously, the firefighters are emotional."
Search-and-rescue operations at the site of the catastrophe were temporarily halted for much of Thursday over fears that the rest of the structure could collapse.
Those efforts resumed on Thursday evening.
A massive wing of the oceanfront condo came crashing down on June 24.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.