Less than a week after the partial collapse of a twelve-story residential building in the US state of Florida, President Joe Biden wants to visit the scene of the disaster, where emergency services continue to search desperately for those buried. Together with his wife Jill, he wants to thank the rescuers in Surfside near Miami and help families who continue to fear for the lives of their loved ones, the White House announced. The number of deaths recovered in the rubble rose again recently and is now at 18 – including two children, as it became known on Wednesday evening. Almost 150 people are still missing. It is therefore feared that the number of dead is likely to increase significantly.
On Wednesday alone, the local authorities announced the discovery of a total of six more deaths by the evening. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Wednesday night at the site of the crash that two children, ages four and 10, were among the most recently recovered victims. She lamented that any loss of life was a tragedy, but the loss of children was “unbearable” and “terrible.” 145 People are still listed as missing.
Cause of the collapse still unexplained
The building near the beach with around 130 residential units had partially collapsed last week on the night of Thursday due to an unexplained cause. People were surprised by the misfortune in their sleep. Since then, a desperate search for possible survivors has been going on. Several hundred rescuers are on duty around the clock – with tracking dogs, special cameras, listening instruments and heavy equipment. Shortly after the collapse, rescue teams were initially able to rescue several dozen people. In recent days, however, the authorities have only announced gloomy news. The death toll rose steadily.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the Bidens wanted to “thank the heroic emergency responders, the recovery teams and everyone who worked tirelessly around the clock”during their visit to the disaster site. They also wanted to comfort those “who were forced to endure this terrible tragedy.” Psaki had stressed on Monday that the president did not want to hinder the recovery work by a hasty visit.
DNA samples to help with identification
Local police made it clear that the search work would continue unabated on Thursday despite Biden’s visit. The visit of the president and first lady is a “great message” for the families, a police official said. “We are very grateful that the president is coming.”The search will not be affected. “That won’t be a problem.”
The search teams have also found unidentified” human remains ” in the rubble. To identify victims, DNA samples were collected from relatives of the residents.
