SURFSIDE, Fla. – Two cranes dug deep into what was left of the rubble at Champlain Towers South on Sunday, as the difficult work to identify the remains of the last known victims of the partial collapse slowed to a crawl. Of the total 97 people believed by Miami-Dade County authorities to have been unaccounted for in the collapse, 95 have been identified.
On Sunday afternoon, officials hadn’t named any additional victims. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the day prior that all 95 families of the residents identified have been notified. The number of people unaccounted for — at one point believed to be over 100 — has significantly decreased over time as officials say they worked to remove duplicates and confirm residents were actually in the building when it fell.
As they have done for the past several weeks, police cars were seen Sunday escorting trucks carrying mangled rebar and pulverized cement out of the beach. Fire authorities have said they are cataloging pieces of debris that will serve as evidence in ongoing investigations about what might have caused the collapse.
At the memorial fence on 88th Street that has grown since the collapse on June 24, dozens passed by on Sunday to take pictures, leave messages and pay their respects. Nearby, Roberto Marquez, a Dallas artist who has spent weeks developing a mural that captures the Surfside tragedy, was working to add new details to his mural.
Marquez, who goes by Robenz, has updated his mural as the circumstances of the collapse and rescue mission changed, from hope and rescue, to recovery and pain. As the victim identification and debris cleanup phases at the site come to a close, so has Marquez’s mural: he said he was two days from concluding his piece.
