Tragedy in Miami: At 18 dead, including two children

Almost a week after the sudden collapse of an apartment building in front of the sea in Florida, the toll has risen even further, reaching 18 dead, including two children, while more than 140 people are still missing and the hope of finding survivors is fading with each passing hour and day.

“We found two more bodies under the rubble,” Miami-Date Mayor Daniela Levine Cava told a news conference yesterday. “With great sadness, with real pain, I am obliged to announce that the two victims were children, 4 and 10 years old,” he added.

Some 140 people remain missing, including dozens of Latin American nationals or Americans from Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay, Chile and Uruguay.

The 12-story building, part of the so-called Champlain Towers, collapsed into a cloud of dust last Thursday at around 1:20 p.m. It was one of the worst civil disasters in US history.

Although search and rescue teams have identified new oxygen pockets in the wreckage, the hopes of finding survivors are now “minimal”.

US President Joe Biden, accompanied by his wife Jill Biden, is expected to go to the scene of the tragedy today to thank rescue and rescue teams and meet with the families of the victims, for whom the wait is endless and the need for answers is endless. more and more pressing.

Authorities promised a “rapid” investigation into the causes of the disaster, which is expected to take months.

You may also like