A pregnant Brit mum and her husband have been found dead in the rubble nearly two weeks after a condo in Miami collapsed as the death toll rises to 79.
Dual UK-US citizen Bhavna Patel, 36, her husband Vishai, 42, and their baby daughter Aishani were all unaccounted for after the June 24 disaster.
Miami-Dade Police confirmed Bhavna and Vishai’s bodies have now been found but their one-year-old daughter remains unaccounted for.
The death toll following the collapse of the 12-storey building in Surfside, Miami has now risen to 79.
Rescue teams continue to work round-the-clock with 61 people still missing and feared dead in the debris.
(Image: Miami-Dade Fire Rescue/ZUMA Press Wire Service/REX/Shutterstock)
The number of people missing could change as it remains unclear how many were in the Champlain Towers South building when it collapsed in the early hours of June 24.
In the last two days the Patels and six other bodies have been found as rescue crews gain greater access inside the ruins.
They have been identified as Maria Teresa Rovirosa, 58, Luis Lopez Moreira III, three, Sophia Lopez Moreira, 36, Luis Pettengill, 36, Deborah Berzdivin, 21 and Juan Alberto Mora, 80.
(Image: REUTERS)
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Police said in a statement: “We have identified eight additional victims who tragically and unexpectedly lost their lives in the Surfside building collapse.
“Please keep their families and loved ones in your prayers.”
Bhavna was reportedly five months pregnant and in recent weeks had finally introduced baby Aishani to family members after the pandemic kept them apart.
Her husband’s aunt Gita Patel told NBC the family wants to focus on “keeping the good memories with us.”
Nobody has been pulled alive from the rubble since the first few hours of the search-and-rescue mission.
Officials are yet to determine what caused the disaster and attention has been focused on a 2018 engineering report that warned of structural deficiencies.
After the building collapse, residents of the nearby Crestview Towers, were told to leave after engineers found serious concrete and electrical problems.
They have not been allowed to return as city officials try to determine if the building can be stabilised.