At a news conference on Saturday evening, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced that the fatality toll in the Surfside, Florida, residential building collapse has reached 9.
"Our search and rescue teams discovered another body in the rubble today," said Levine Cava. "We also discovered several human remains throughout our hunt."
According to the mayor, identifying the victims is tough, so officials will rely on DNA testing. "That is why we've already been taking DNA samples from the family members," she added.
The victims were named as Antonio Lozano, 83, Gladys Lozano, 79, and Manuel LaFont, 54, according to a news release issued by the Miami-Dade Police Department on Saturday night.
Stacie Fang, 54, has previously been identified, according to CNN.
Antonio and Gladys Lozano were both found in unit 903, with Antonio being found on June 24 and Gladys on June 25, according to the release.
The identity of the fifth victim has still to be determined.
She said there are now 130 persons who have been found and 156 who are still missing. The cause of the collapse has yet to be determined.
Officials said at 1:30 a.m. Thursday, around 55 of the 136 units at the building a few miles north of Miami Beach collapsed, leaving massive amounts of rubble on the ground and objects dangling from what was left of the structure.
"Our top priority remains search and rescue, with the goal of saving as many lives as possible," the mayor stated.
During the news conference, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Alan Cominsky noted that crews are continuing a "active search and rescue approach" in the rubble of Champlain Towers South.
Firefighters were able to put out the fire and reduce the smoke, which was obstructing search and rescue efforts, according to Cominsky.
"We're currently scouring the entire debris field, which we've divided into multiple areas, and we're aggressively... using our search and rescue procedures."
Concerns concerning structural damage had been raised by the engineer.
According to papers, an engineer raised concerns about structural problems to the concrete slab beneath the pool deck and "cracking and spalling" in the parking garage nearly three years before the catastrophic partial collapse on Thursday.
A structural field survey report dated October 2018 was among a slew of public papers posted to the Surfside municipal website overnight. The field survey report was initially reported by the New York Times.
The waterproofing beneath the pool deck and entrance drive was failing, according to the structural field report, creating "severe structural damage."
The waterproofing beneath the pool deck and Entrance Drive, as well as all of the planter waterproofing, has reached the end of its useful life and must be removed and replaced, according to the report.
