- Search crews at the collapsed
Florida condo building pulled 14 more bodies from the rubble. - That brings the confirmed death toll in the June 24 disaster in
Surfside to at least 78. - Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava called the figure "staggering and heartbreaking."
Search crews at the site of the collapsed Florida condo building have pulled 14 more bodies from the rubble, bringing the confirmed death toll in the disaster to a "staggering" 78, a local mayor said Friday.
"We have now uncovered an additional 14 victims of this tragedy," Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told reporters at a press briefing. "This brings the total number of confirmed fatalities to 78."
Cava explained, "This is a staggering and heartbreaking number that affects all of us very, very deeply."
"Please, please continue to keep all of the families in your prayers and in your hearts," the mayor said.
Of the 78 victims, officials have identified 47 of them and next of kin have been notified, according to Cava.
Sixty-two people are "potentially still unaccounted for" in the June 24 catastrophe in Surfside.
This week, search-and-rescue efforts at the site of the collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South turned into a recovery mission as officials deemed that there was no longer a chance of finding survivors underneath the mound of debris and rubble.
The oceanfront building's northeast wing suddenly came crashing down at around 1:30 a.m. on June 24 as many residents inside slept. The damaged remaining section of the building has since been demolished.