Death toll in Miami condo collapse climbs to 11

The death toll from the sudden collapse of a condo building in Surfside, Fla., climbed to 11 on Monday, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced at a press conference. 

Rescuers are on their fifth day of clearing rubble and debris in search of survivors after the building, near Miami, collapsed unexpectedly in the early hours of Thursday morning. 

The recovery of another body on Monday brings the death toll to 11, while another 150 are still missing after the collapse. 

“First responders did recover another victim, so in total the number of people accounted for now stands at 136, with 150 unaccounted for,” Cava said. “The number of confirmed deaths is 11, tragically 11, and once again, as I continue to stress in all of these briefings, these numbers are very fluid, and they will change.”

UPDATE: Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava says another victim has been recovered from site of South Florida condo collapse, increasing number of confirmed deaths to 11 https://t.co/Cf8Ijpx3Sm pic.twitter.com/4M1C0eXEsX

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) June 28, 2021

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has sent personnel and building science experts to aid in search and rescue operations and that the FBI also has sent officials to help recovery efforts.

Psaki also said President Biden supports an investigation into the collapse, as the cause has raised questions of negligence by building managers and the chain of events behind the disaster have not yet been confirmed. 

Initial reports suggest the building had been sinking into the ground due to weather and erosion and that a consultant had warned of “major structural damage.”

Frank Morabito, the engineering consultant who conducted the 2018 report, found “abundant cracking and spalling of varying degrees” in the “concrete columns, beams, and walls” of the ground-floor parking garage. 

A lawyer for the building’s condo association claimed that they were just about to start plans for fixes to the safety issues before the collapse.

Updated 7:07 p.m.