As the death toll rose to nine, searchers worked on Sunday to find more than 150 missing residents amid the rubble of a Florida apartment building that collapsed three days ago, as questions arose about the tower's structural integrity, Trend reports citing Reuters.
The death toll was certain to rise as emergency workers in Surfside, a shore town near Miami, were joined by teams from Israel and experts from Mexico.
"Everybody that is needed is on the site and doing the work and we're continuing our efforts to find people alive," Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told CBS on Sunday.
Officials said they harbored hope that some of the 156 people unaccounted for might be alive. Aided by dogs, sonar, drones and infrared scanning, they hope people can survive in air pockets that may have formed in the debris.
A smoldering fire beneath the rubble that produced thick smoke and hindered the work of rescuers has abated, officials said. A trench was dug to separate the areas of smoking debris from the rest of the rubble and rescuers are also using tunnels, Levine Cava said.
"The biggest thing now is hope," Fire Chief Alan Cominsky said. "That's what's driving us. It's an extremely difficult situation."