Four additional bodies were recovered from the rubble of the condo building that collapsed in Surfside, Fla., bringing the total death toll to 94.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava (D) announced the updated death toll during a news conference Monday morning. Eighty-three of the victims have been identified, and 80 of the families of the deceased have been notified.
Cava said 22 people remain “potentially unaccounted for,” while 222 have been accounted for since the building largely collapsed June 24.
The mayor said the “process of making identification has become more difficult as time goes on,” adding, “The numbers are fluid and will continue to change.”
Cava said the search and recovery mission experienced “some brief interruptions” over the last operational period due to lightning. She said the weather service is still embedded with the search teams on site to provide real-time updates on weather changes for first responders.
“They can resume their work following pauses as soon as it’s safe to go back, and the weather service guides them,” Cava said.
She said the city expects “ongoing inclement weather over the next few days,” which will trigger “a few brief pauses.”
The increased death toll comes days after the rescue mission for the condo collapsed transitioned from a search and rescue effort to a recovery mission.
Cava said the operation ultimately shifted after authorities “exhausted every option available to us in the search and rescue mission.”