Biden mourns with families as search of collapsed Florida condo resumes
Rescue and recovery teams resumed picking through the rubble of a partially collapsed Florida condominium complex on Thursday (Jul 1), nearly 15 hours after the search for scores of victims believed buried in the rubble a week ago was suspended for safety concerns. The renewed search effort began, apparently on a limited basis, shortly after a visit to the site by US President Joe Biden, who pledged federal assistance and offered comfort to the families of those killed and missing in the oceanfront town of Surfside, adjacent to Miami Beach.
Biden, whose personal experience with tragedy has helped define his political career, traveled to Florida to reprise the role of "consoler-in-chief" a week after the 12-story Champlain Towers South condo partially caved in overnight as residents slept.
The confirmed death toll stood at 18 after the recovery of six more victims whose deaths were confirmed on Wednesday, including two children, aged 4 and 10, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said on Thursday. Another 145 people remained missing and feared trapped in the heaps of pulverized concrete, splintered lumber, and twisted metal. Levine Cava announced that searching the mounds of rubble restarted at about 4.45 pm local time once authorities determined that it was safe to do so.
