Bodies of Paraguay's President Mario Abdo Benítez's sister-in-law Sophia Lopez Moreira and her family have been identified in the rubble of the Florida condo that collapsed couple of weeks back. Latest reports claim that the bodies of Moreira, her husband Luis Pettengill and their youngest son were found in the debris.
The news was confirmed by National Chancellor Euclides Acevedo. The chancellor spoke to Telefuturo and said that Moreira's two daughters were still missing. "I am very sorry to have to give this type of information," Acevedo said. Moreira's children's nanny is also said to be missing.
Moreira's family owned a condo inside the Champlain Towers South beachfront building. The condo collapsed at about 1.30 AM on June 24 in Miami's Surfside neighborhood. Moreira is the sister of Silvana López Moreira, who is married to President Mario Abdo Benítez. Paraguay's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had earlier stated that six Paraguayans were among those missing in the incident. There is no additional information on the other missing Paraguayan nationals .
Reports had claimed that Moriera along with her husband and three children was inside the condo when it collapsed. The family was reportedly had received their Covid-19 vaccines hours before the collapse. In fact, the family had celebrated Moriera's husband Luis's birthday on the fateful day.
Death Toll Climbs to 64
The death toll has reached 64 and reports claimed that at least 76 people are still missing. Out of the 64, only 40 victims have been identified. Search and rescue work is on. The crew is trying to recover remains from the mounds of debris from two weeks. But the searchers have stopped looking for survivors.
Officials announced on June 7 that they were now focused only on recovery efforts. Officials said that there were no signs of life after two weeks of the incident. "At this point, we have truly exhausted every option available to us in the search-and-rescue mission," said Mayor Daniella Levine Cava of Miami-Dade County. "We are working around the clock to recover victims and to bring closure to the families as fast as we can," Cava said addressing a news conference. She also said that the rescue team was trying to recover personal belongings of the victims.
Rescue teams have come from all over Florida, as well as Texas, Israel and Mexico. One of the relatives of a victim told New York Times that search officers had clung to hope that the demolition of the remainder of the building would lead to the discovery of survivors in a stairwell or perhaps in basement areas, in the voids between cars. But they found nothing. It was all rubble, and crushed, the family member of a victim told the newspaper.
