An Israeli search and rescue team played an outsized role in recovering the remains of victims of last month’s catastrophic apartment building collapse in southern Florida, according to a report by The Palm Beach Post.
On Monday, the mayor of Miami-Dade County announced that the remains of the last missing person lost after the collapse of the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside, Florida had been found, bringing the total death toll to 98.
According to the report by the Post Monday, of the 98 victims, the vast majority were located with the help of the search and rescue team sent from Israel to aid in recovery efforts.
As of Friday, three days before the last victim had been recovered, 97 victims had been located and identified.
Of those, the report said, 81 were found by with the help of the IDF team, which worked alongside American rescue workers.
The chief of the IDF delegation, Lt. Col. Golan Vach, personally found 20 of the victims.
“This is the way we were working, like detectives,” Vach said. “You have these stupid, simple, brilliant signs. You dig here, and you will find the people you are looking for. And it worked.”