Rescue crews digging ever deeper into the rubble of the condo that dramatically collapsed in Miami have found the bodies of two children, aged four and 10.
According to tragic reports, officials yet hold hope that they might find more survivors, with the death toll having risen to 18 at the time of writing.
With the search and rescue operation entering its seventh day, six more bodies have been recovered. As stands, 147 people remain missing and are feared to be trapped under the rubble of the Champlain Towers South condo.
Last week, footage emerged showing the sudden and violent collapse of the building in the early hours of Thursday, June 24. It is not yet known what caused the collapse.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told a news conference that the community was deep in mourning.
“The loss of children is too great to bear,” Levine Cava said.
“Our community, our nation and the world all are mourning with these families who have lost loved ones.”
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett, meanwhile, told how he had promised families that rescue crews were “not leaving anyone behind”.
Teams including 200 specialists and rescue dogs have been working around the clock to remove rubble and debris since the building came down, but there’s still a good deal of work to be done.
“We’ve not gotten to the bottom,” Burkett continued. “We don’t know what’s down there.
“We’re not going to guess. We’re not going to make a life-or-death decision to arbitrarily stop searching for people who may be alive in that rubble.”
As per the Daily Mirror, fire officials have claimed to have heard faint noises emanating from the ruins, though also said such noises could be the rubble settling.
Rescue personnel are hopeful that there are large enough spaces, or pockets in the rubble, to allow people to survive long enough until they can be found.
My heart goes out to all the victims and their families, and I’m praying more people are found safe and unharmed.
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