Miami Building Collapse death toll rises to 54; 86 people still missing

Miami Building collapse search and rescue efforts have transitioned to a recovery operation, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said on Wednesday. With the recovery of eight more bodies, the death toll of an oceanfront condo building in Surfside rose to 54, informed Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava on Wednesday (local time).

When the tally of the missing was first announced, it stood at 159, and the death toll at four. By Wednesday evening, the death toll had risen to 54, with 86 people 'potentially unaccounted for.'

"To share this news with the families this evening who are still missing their loved ones was devastating and it's also difficult to share with all of you," Mayor Cava announced in an evening news briefing. The transition will take place at midnight, she added.

"Our team has developed a very detailed plan to guide the transition and to ensure that the operations proceed at the same speed and intensity," Levine Cava said.

The decision to transition to a recovery operation was based on the facts that emerged throughout the search and rescue mission in the past two weeks, Miami-Dade County Fire Chief Alan Cominsky said.

Condo collapse raises security and safety concerns among Miami residents

The search and rescue efforts to find survivors in the rubble of the building became increasingly grim this week and Cominsky said earlier Wednesday that personnel combing the rubble had found no evidence anyone survived the initial collapse.

The condo's collapse has raised questions about whether other residential structures could be at risk in Miami-Dade County, where sea levels are rising, the salty air is corrosive and nearly two-thirds of all commercial, condo and apartment buildings are as old or older than the 40-year-old building that collapsed. About 5 million pounds of debris have been removed from the site so far, Cominsky said.

National Institute of Standards and Technology called to investigate debris

Meanwhile, more federal organizations are investigating why the building collapsed. Cava said the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the US Geological Survey and the National Science Foundation are sending staff.

"NIST, our federal partner, continues to work closely with the structural specialists, with detectives, and the fire rescue crews on site, as the evidence gathering process is well underway," she said.

"They're capturing all possible insights from the debris and all evidence is being properly tagged and logged."  All of the debris removed from the site is considered 'evidentiary debris,' Levine Cava said.

The remnants are being sorted on-site, and any objects that can be distinguished are put in certain bins and labelled with the exact location where they were found, the mayor said.

Image Credits - AP