Surfside condo collapse: Death toll rises to 79; cat reunited with family

SURFSIDE, Fla. — The death toll associated with the partial collapse last month of a 12-story condo building in Surfside has risen to 79, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Thursday.

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The grim recovery mission by crews at the site of the collapsed Champlain Towers South condominium continued Friday afternoon and evening.

Update 7:38 p.m. EDT July 9: In a tweet, Miami-Dade Police identified four more victims: Benny Weisz, 31; Angela Velasquez, 60; Ilan Naibryf, 21; and Leidy Vanessa Luna Villalba.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava during Friday evening’s news conference that 79 victims have been identified, and 51 of the deceased have been identified to family members.

Original report: Levine Cava said that 53 people have been identified and 51 of the dead have been identified to their families.

There have been 200 people accounted for, and 61 people still have not been accounted for, Levine Cava told reporters.

Levine Cava did say that a cat, named Binx, which belonged to a family on the ninth floor of the condominium, was found alive near the site and was reunited with its family.

Friday afternoon’s update, combined with the 14 people who were announced at a morning news conference, means that 15 bodies have been recovered in the past 24 hours.

Heavy machinery continued to scoop large piles of debris off the pile in Surfside as digging entered the third weekend at the site of the collapsed condominium.

So far, 47 people have been identified and their families have been notified. The number of missing stands at 62.

The mayor added that briefings about the recovery effort will be trimmed from twice a day to once daily, at 10 a.m.

Check back for more on this developing story.

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