Death toll rises to 16, with 147 missing: Live updates: Miami-area apartment collapse: NPR

[ad_1]

Search and rescue personnel worked alongside heavy machinery on Wednesday to sort through the rubble of the South Champlain Towers apartment building, where dozens of people are still missing nearly a week after the partial collapse. Lynne Sladky / AP Hide Caption

Toggle the caption for Lynne Sladky / AP

Search and rescue personnel worked alongside heavy machinery on Wednesday to sort through the rubble of the South Champlain Towers apartment building, where dozens of people are still missing nearly a week after the partial collapse.

Lynn Sweet/AFP

The bodies of four more victims have been pulled from the rubble of the South Champlain Towers in Surfside, Florida, bringing the death toll from last week’s partial collapse to 16.

Authorities leading the rescue operation said on Wednesday that 147 victims were still missing or unaccounted for.

Miami-Dade County Assistant Fire Chief Ray Gadallah told family members in a morning briefing that the four bodies were found Tuesday night, officials said.

Rescue teams are now on their seventh day of searching around the clock for the huge pile of rubble left by the partial collapse of the 12-storey building last Thursday. Thursday was also the last day crews pulled anyone alive from the rubble.

Florida authorities said rescuers would continue to search for victims.

“Rest assured, these people are going to work on that pile, not stop, and get answers one way or another,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told reporters Wednesday.

Officials have not yet released the names of all 16 people whose deaths have been confirmed, but earlier today released another name: 92-year-old Hilda Noriega. Miami-Dade police said her body was recovered on Tuesday.

“The Noriega family has lost the ‘heart, soul’ and ‘mother’ to their family, but they will make it through this time by embracing the unconditional love for which Hilda is so famous,” a statement from the family read shared by the town of North Bay Village in Florida.

Search teams say they have so far removed more than 3 million pounds of debris and debris from the collapse site.

The president and first lady are scheduled to visit the site on Thursday.

[ad_2]