Death of tenth victim confirmed in condo collapse in Florida, US

The tenth victim in the collapse of the Surfside condo in the US state of Florida has been confirmed dead, officials informed on Monday amid an ongoing rescue mission.

This comes as the cause of the collapse is still unknown, CNN reported. However, new details are emerging about the integrity of the structure noted in an engineering report in 2018. Experts who have reviewed available data about condo collapse say probe into its cause should focus on potential failures near the base of the building.

Miami-Dade Assistant Fire and Rescue Chief Raide Jadallah said that another victim "was processed, removed from the pile, and the operation continued," bringing the death toll in the tragedy to 10.

So far, 151 are unaccounted for and 135 are accounted for in the collapse of Champlain Towers South.

This comes as the City of Miami Beach has declared a state of emergency in the wake of the incident. US President Joe Biden, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava have issued emergency declarations as well.

Family members of people who died or are still missing in the collapse in Surfside were taken to the site at Champlain Towers South Sunday, according to Cava's office.

With an additional four victims pulled from the debris, a total of 134 people have been accounted for while 152 remain unaccounted for, she said.

A large oceanfront condo building near Miami Beach partially collapsed on Thursday, prompting a massive search-and-rescue response as many people were reported missing.

A 2020 study conducted by Shimon Wdowinski, a professor in the department of earth and environment at Florida International University, found that the building had been sinking since the 1990s, according to US media.

( With inputs from ANI )

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