Search of the Surfside condominium collapse shifted from rescue to recovery on Wednesday as hopes of finding survivors faded, AP reports.
The latest: The death toll from the June 24 Champlain Towers South collapse has climbed to 46, with 94 people still missing. The decision to move to recovery comes after rescue teams searched through new areas of rubble made accessible following the demolition of the remaining part of the building.
- The decision allows responders to use different techniques to sort through the wreckage, according to former Miami-Dade fire chief Dave Downey, who previously told the Washington Post that he had to make similar calls in Florida and twice while in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake.
- Families were told Wednesday in a private briefing that emergency crews would continue to search for victims' bodies, but rescue dogs and sound devices would be removed from the site, per AP.
- Rescue crews have searched the rubble for 14 days, with the only recovered survivor found in the early hours after the collapse, USA Today notes.
The big picture: At least32 victims have been identified and next of kin have been notified, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at a press briefing earlier Wednesday.
- "Our first responders have truly searched that pile every day since the collapse as if they’re searching for their own families," Levine Cava added, who spoke through tears as she communicated the death toll in Spanish.
- The first funeral was held for victims of the tragedy on Tuesday. Lucia Guara, 10, and her 4-year-old sister, Emma, were buried in the same white coffin in a grave alongside their parents, Marcus and Ana Guara, WPLG reports.
- Rescuers had removed about 124 tons of debris from the site as of Tuesday, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue chief Alan Cominsky said.
Go deeper: Remembering the victims of the Surfside condo collapse
