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Florida condo collapse death toll climbs to 95

Surfside mourns victims as death toll nears 100
Surfside mourns victims as death toll nears 100 01:38

The death toll in the Miami-area condominium collapse climbed to 95 Tuesday after another victim was recovered. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said 85 of the victims have been identified in the June 24 collapse of Champlain Towers South, an oceanside condo building in Surfside.

Levine Cava said 14 people are potentially unaccounted for, noting that victims are officially unaccounted for until they're identified.

"At this step in the recovery process, we're relying heavily on the work of the medical examiner's office," Levine Cava said. "It's a scientific, methodical process to identify human remains … this work is becoming more difficult with the passage of time."

Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said Monday officials have decided to increase security around the debris pile to ensure that the site is preserved. Only authorized personnel will be allowed.

Surfside mayor says Florida condo building "should have never fallen down" 05:36

Miami-Dade Police Department Director Alfredo Ramirez III said there has been "no criminality" at the site, but officials want to make sure the area is secure so crews can continue to preserve personal items found in the rubble.

Burkett said on CBSN on investigators are continuing to look for the cause of the collapse.

"We have no idea why that building fell down," Burkett said. "That building should have never fallen down."

The mayor said authorities were looking at an almost identical building, built one block away by the same developer with virtually the same plans.

"We are sort of really rushing to see if we can find some clues as to why that first building fell down based upon the construction and the design of the second building, which we obviously have concerns about also," Burkett said.

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