Surfside condo collapse: additional victim identified as Live Nation executive

The Miami-Dade Police Department announced on Saturday afternoon that an additional victim in the tragic Surfside building collapse has been identified, bringing the total to 95 identified victims out of 97 people who have been confirmed dead.

Theresa Velasquez, 36, was identified on Saturday after her remains were found in the rubble on July 8, authorities said.

A musical executive at Live Nation in Los Angeles, Velasquez arrived in South Florida to visit her parents just hours before the 12-story Champlain Towers South building, where her parents lived on the third floor, broke down. suddenly collapsed on June 26, reports the Miami Herald. .

Search and rescue efforts recently switched to a recovery operation after authorities determined there was no longer any hope of locating survivors.

CONDO COLLAPSE FIRST RESPONDERS, FAMILIES OF VICTIMS VISITED BY COMFORT DOGS

“At this stage of the recovery process, it has become more and more difficult to identify the victims, and we rely heavily on the work of the medical examiner’s office and the scientific and technical process of identifying the human remains,” said Miami-Dade County officials said in a statement. updated Friday.

“This job gets more difficult over time, even though our teams are working as hard and as fast as possible.”

Only a few people are still considered missing, or “potentially missing”, officials said.

SURFSIDE, FLORIDA – JULY 09: A rescuer guides an excavator to dig the remains of the collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building on July 09, 2021 in Surfside, Florida. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The cause of the collapse has yet to be revealed, although there were early signs that the 40-year-old building had serious structural problems in the years leading up to the disaster.

Miami-Dade circuit judge Michael Hanzman on Wednesday approved the sale of the beachfront property, which could range from $ 100 million to $ 110 million.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.