The number of confirmed deaths in the building collapse in Surfside, Florida, has risen to 18, CBS Miami reports.
On Wednesday afternoon, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said that two additional bodies had been pulled from the rubble. This time, she said, they were the bodies of two children, ages 4 and 10.
Those who have been recovered and identified from the site are Stacie Dawn Fang, 54; Antonio Lozano, 83 and Gladys Lozano, 79; Manuel LaFont, 54; Leon Oliwkowicz, 80; Christina Beatriz Elvira, 74; Marcus Joseph Guara, 52; Frank Kleiman, 55; Michael David Altman, 50; Hilda Noriega, 92; Anna Ortiz, 46, and her son Luis Bermudez, 26.
The number of those unaccounted for is now 147, while the number of people accounted for is 139, said Levine Cava.
The mayor said they were conducting an audit of the list of those accounted and unaccounted for.
“Our detectives have been working around the clock to reach every single person who we have been told may be missing by a loved one. We need to verify every report and remove duplicates wherever possible. Please, this takes some time,” said Levine Cava.
The mayor stressed the numbers are fluid and will continue to change.
Search crews have worked tirelessly at the site since the collapse. The clearing of the debris must be done delicately to prevent falling pieces of rubble from causing a shift and potentially injuring search teams or possible survivors.
An Israeli Home Front Command and Foreign Ministry delegation in Miami have been joined in the past day by members of another delegation, including rescuers, engineers and aid workers, to strengthen and assist the existing delegation.
An operational team of Unit 9900 in the Intelligence Division built a three-dimensional model that maps the building that collapsed, thus streamlining the process of locating the bodies in the building.
The delegation is working on two main efforts: The rescue and engineering effort and the effort by Home Front Command officers to assist the families of the missing.
At the same time, the staff of the Israeli Consulate, headed by the Consul General, is working with the local authorities, families and heads of the Jewish community, and is examining other ways in which help can be provided, such as emotional support for the families and the community.
The 12-story oceanfront condominium in Surfside, a neighborhood near Miami, collapsed in the early hours of Thursday of last week.
The White House announced on Tuesday that US President Joe Biden will visit the site of the building collapse later this week.
"On Thursday, July 1, the president and the first lady will travel to Surfside, Florida," the Biden administration said in a statement, adding that details for the trip would be provided later.