Death toll in Surfside condo collapse reaches 90

The death toll in the Champlain Towers South condominium building collapse was raised to 90 on Sunday.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava gave the update during a press briefing. According to Cava, 71 of the 90 victims have been identified and their next of kin have been notified. Cava stated that 217 people are now accounted for and 31 remain potentially unaccounted for, though she stressed that he numbers continue to be “fluid.”

“Our detectives are continuing to make progress in their audit and their diligent efforts of researching, verifying all reports on the unaccounted list and working with the families to open missing person police reports and as a result we have continued to move reports for the unaccounted to the accounted list,” Cava said.

The death toll was raised 86 people on Saturday. Cava said 14 million pounds of concrete and debris have now been recovered from the site in Surfside, Fla.

Cava also expressed gratitude to members of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) who went to Florida and helped in the search-and-rescue effort almost immediately after the disaster occurred. The IDF team travelled back to Israel on Sunday, according to the mayor.

There had been concerns that the inclement weather brought on by Tropical Storm Elsa could impact the recovery operation. Officials said the rain had actually helped in reducing dust created by the removal of rubble.