Death toll in Florida condo collapse climbs to 60

Death toll in Florida condo collapse climbs to 60

[NFA] Sixty bodies have so far been pulled from the rubble of a collapsed condominium in south Florida, fifteen days after the building caved in and a day after crews shifted from rescue to recovery.

This report produced by Zachary Goelman.

Six more bodies were found in the rubble of a shattered condominium in the town of Surfside, outside Miami.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava on Thursday announced the latest sobering figures.

"Since our last briefing the team has recovered additional victims. The number of confirmed deaths is now sixty." Sixty bodies have so far been pulled from the wreckage in the 15 days since the Champlain Towers South condo collapsed.

Eighty people are still unaccounted for, and crews here said Wednesday they no longer held out hope of finding any survivors.

Florida governor Ron De Santis said the decision Wednesday to shift from rescue to recovery was painful.

But crews were determined to keep working to provide closure to families of missing loved ones.

"The work's going to go on, and obviously they're going to identify every single person.

And we obviously want to do all we can for the survivors and the family members." The building fell so forcefully that rescuers could find no air pockets where people might survive for days.

Fire officials said on Wednesday that one section on the north side of the collapsed building saw four floors - normally representing at least 40 feet of vertical space - pancake into just three feet, crushing everyone and everything in between.

Investigators have not determined what caused the Champlain Towers South to fall apart without warning.