Two students among the 150 still missing after Florida condo collapse

Two young students are among the 150 people still missing five days after the Florida condo collapse, a new report said.

There were 17 students in the Miami-Dade public school district registered to the Champlain Tower South building but two of them are unaccounted for, The Miami Herald reported.

The missing students weren’t identified by name or age, but a post from a teachers union group indicates the two are elementary aged.

The United Teachers of Dade posted on Friday that one teacher was safe and a retired physical education teacher and his wife were among the missing.

“In the meantime, our hearts ache for all the impacted families especially our faculty and staff at Ruth K. Broad Bay Harbor K-8 Center who are trying to locate students that attend their school,” the post said.

Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho confirmed the two students missing to the Herald, and said the 15 other students registered to the building, in Surfside, have been in touch with administrators.

He has said on social media that the schools are providing support to students and staff affected by the tragedy.

“Tormented by images like this one of a bunk bed sitting near the top of this now-exposed building,” he tweeted on Thursday, sharing a picture of the rubble at the site.

A Pooh Bear found in the rubble, is left at a memorial honoring those lost in the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South building on June 28, 2021
A Pooh Bear found in the rubble is left at a memorial honoring those lost in the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South building.
GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty Images

“Truly heartbroken for the families of the nearly 100 who are still missing, as they anguish over the fate of their loved ones.”

Counseling services have been offered at the schools since Thursday but no students have come in seeking the service, the Herald said.

The confirmed death toll reached 11 on Monday as the rescue and recovery effort continues. The 12-story building that partially collapsed on Thursday has left mounds of rubble and debris that crews have sifted through around the clock searching for remains and holding out hope of finding survivors.

“We have people waiting, waiting and waiting for news – that is excruciating,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at a Monday evening news briefing.

Leo Souto and Nelson Lopez embrace near where pictures of some of the missing from the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building hang on a fence
Leo Souto and Nelson Lopez embrace near where pictures of some of the missing from the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building hang on a fence.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

“We have them coping with news that they might not have their loved ones come out alive and still hoping against hope that they will. They’re learning that some of their loved ones will only come out as body parts.”

President Biden, who’s deployed FEMA resources to Florida, is in favor of an investigation into what caused the collapse, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.

“So certainly we want to play any constructive role we can play with federal resources in getting to the bottom of it and preventing it from happening in the future,” Psaki told reporters.

source: nypost.com