Biden meets with families of Florida condo collapse victims

미 아파트 붕괴 사망자 18명으로 늘어나...바이든, 실종자 가족 3시간 넘게 위로

Rescue efforts in Florida have resumed with search teams scouring for survivors after last week's collapse of a 12-storey condo.
U.S. President Joe Biden visited on Thursday to console those who lost loved ones in the disaster.
Bae Eun-ji reports.
The death toll from last week's condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida has now reached 18, with 145 people still unaccounted for.
Search and rescue efforts resumed on Thursday afternoon after they were halted for about 15 hours... due to concerns that the rest of the condo building could collapse.
Officials said the rescuers have removed almost 1-thousand-400 tons of debris from the site so far.
The crews are using specially trained dogs, cranes and underground sonar systems that can detect victims.
U.S. President Joe Biden visited the site on Thursday local time to offer comfort to the families of those dead or missing.
He acknowledged that the hope of finding any more survivors dimmed with each passing day... but said it was possible someone might still be pulled out alive.

"The last thing they would want and we would want is in the process of trying to recover and the possibility there's still a possibility someone could be alive, someone could still be breathing, someone could be there, that the last thing you want to have happen is have that building collapse and kill 10, 20, 30, 50 firefighters or wounded or first responders."

He also pledged to deliver "whatever they need"... saying that he expects the federal government to cover the full costs of the search and rescue efforts for the first 30 days, and provide temporary housing for the survivors.
Bae Eun-ji, Arirang News.

#Biden #Florida #condo_collapse

2021-07-02, 12:00 (KST)