Sharkaj24 – Reuters: The death toll rose to five on Saturday at the site of the Florida building collapse where rescue workers methodically searched for more than 150 missing residents while firefighters made progress in battling a smoldering fire in the mountain of debris.
Search-and-rescue teams found one victim at the site in Surfside, a shore town near Miami, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said during an evening news briefing.
"Our top priority continues to be search and rescue and saving any lives that we can," Levine Cava said.
The search effort has revealed some human remains while three other victims were identified and their family members notified, she said.
A newly released 2018 report showed that an engineer found evidence of major structural damage beneath the pool deck and "concrete deterioration" in the underground parking garage of the 12-story oceanfront condominium, three years before it collapsed without warning on Thursday as most residents slept.
Officials said they still harbored hope that some of the 156 people unaccounted for might be found alive. Firefighters made progress on smoldering fire and smoke beneath the rubble, allowing rescuers to search with fewer limitations, officials said.
Aided by dogs, infrared scanning and heavy equipment, rescuers hope that air pockets that may have formed in the debris might keep people alive.
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