Gerald Herbert/AP
- Two more bodies, including the 7-year-old child of a Miami firefighter, were pulled from the rubble of the collapsed Surfside, Flordia condo building, officials said Friday.
- Search-and-rescue crews at the site of crumbled 12-story Champlain Towers South recovered the additional victims Thursday night.
- At least 20 people have been confirmed dead in the June 24 collapse and 128 people remain unaccounted for.
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Two more bodies, including a child of a Miami firefighter, have been pulled from the rubble of the partly collapsed condo tower in Surfside, Florida, raising the confirmed death toll from the disaster to 20, officials said on Friday.
Search-and-rescue crews at the site of crumbled 12-story Champlain Towers South in Surfside recovered the additional victims Thursday night.
"Tragically one of those was the 7-year-old daughter of a city of Miami firefighter," Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told reporters.
Cava said that 128 people remain unaccounted for in the June 24 collapse and 188 people are accounted for.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Alan Cominsky commented on the "toll" it takes on first responders who have recovered victims – especially the child of a local firefighter – from the rubble.
"Every victim we remove, it's difficult, it's very difficult," Cominsky said. "Unfortunately we haven't been able to remove survivors yet, but it's very difficult and last night was even more when removing a fellow firefighters daughter."
"That's what I want to emphasize, the emotion, you know, what we're feeling as firefighters," he said. "What we do, it's kind of a calling, we always say that, but it takes a toll."
Cominsky explained, "Obviously the firefighters are emotional."
Search-and-rescue operations at the site of the catastrophe were temporarily halted much of Thursday over fears that the rest of the structure could collapse.
Those efforts resumed Thursday evening.
A massive wing of the oceanfront condo came crashing down to the ground on June 24 as residents inside were asleep.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
