Miami building collapse death toll hits 5 as another body found; 156 missing

South Florida Urban Search and Rescue team look for survivors at the oceanfront condo, Champlain Towers South, Miami. Pic/AP/PTI

Rescue crews found another body in the rubble of a collapsed 12-storey condominium tower near Miami on Saturday, raising the death toll to five as they raced to recover any survivors while fighting back fire and smoke deep inside the concrete and metal remains.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced the new toll at an evening media briefing, saying the discovery of the body dropped the number of unaccounted for down to 156. She said crews struggling throughout the day in the debris also found other unspecified human remains.

The mayor also said the reason the missing number went down by three was because authorities had identified three bodies. Officials said the remains they find are being sent to the medical examiner, and they are also gathering DNA samples from family members to help identify them.

Throughout the day, she noted, rescue workers continued to go over the massive mountain of debris with rescue dogs and sonar searching for any survivors. "Our top priority continues to be search and rescue and saving any lives that we can," she said.

Earlier, she said, a blaze "very deep" in the debris had posed "incredible difficulties" to the rescue teams because of the flames. At one point on Saturday, a fire hose blasted one of the lower floors on the north side of the tower as white smoke or steam streamed out, and a bitter, sulfur-like smell hung in the air.

Major structural damage found

The ground-floor pool deck of the oceanfront condominium building that collapsed near Miami was resting on a concrete slab that had "major structural damage" and needed to be extensively repaired, according to a 2018 engineering report.

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