As the third weekend of digging through the rubble begins, the death toll has climbed to 78, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced in a news conference Friday, The Associated Press reported.
The search transitioned from rescue to recovery this week after authorities said there was “zero chance of survival,” The New York Times reported Wednesday.
So far, 47 people have been identified and their families notified. The number of missing stands at 62, the Herald reported.
Recovery workers have vowed to keep up the search for victims until all of the debris has been cleared.
A fire officer told family members during a meeting that crews “will not stop working until they’ve gotten to the bottom of the pile and recovered every single of the families’ missing loved ones,” Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said, according to the AP.
One of those recovered was Sophia Lopez Moreira, sister of Paraguay’s first lady Silvana Abdo. They also recovered Lopez Moreira’s husband and their youngest child. The couple’s two other children and a family assistant are still among the missing, the AP reported.
President Joe Biden listens during a briefing with first responders and local officials in Miami Beach, Thursday, July 1, 2021, on the condo tower that collapsed in Surfside, Fla., last week. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Joe Biden meets with first responders in Miami Beach, Fla., Thursday, July 1, 2021, who were working on the condo tower that collapsed in Surfside, Fla., last week. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
A diagram is seen on the wall during the briefing with President Joe Biden and first responders and local officials during a briefing in Miami Beach, Fla., Thursday, July 1, 2021, on the condo tower that collapsed in Surfside, Fla., a week ago. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Joe Biden, center, listens as Incident Commander Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, right, speaks during a briefing with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, left, first responders and local officials in Miami Beach, Fla., Thursday, July 1, 2021, on the condo tower that collapsed in Surfside, Fla., last week. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Joe Biden meets with first responders in Miami Beach, Fla., Thursday, July 1, 2021, who were working on the condo tower that collapsed in Surfside, Fla., last week. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Furniture and household items are perched in the remains of destroyed apartments, in the still standing section of the Champlain Towers South condo building on Thursday, July 1, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. Scores of people remain missing one week after the building partially collapsed.(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Search and rescue personnel work atop the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of people remain missing almost a week after it partially collapsed, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
A man prays during a session of evening prayers, known as vespers, dedicated to people impacted by the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church on Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in Miami Beach, Fla. Church officials said between 18 and 22 of their parishioners were among the scores of people who have been missing since last Thursday’s collapse of the oceanfront condominium in adjacent Surfside. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Search and rescue personnel work atop the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of people remain missing almost a week after it partially collapsed, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
A dog working with search and rescue personnel barks to alert them after sniffing a spot atop the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of people remain missing almost a week after it partially collapsed, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Workers peer up at the rubble pile at the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South condo building, ahead of a planned visit to the site by President Joe Biden, on Thursday, July 1, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. Search and rescue workers, who have had to contend with summer rainstorms, fires within the debris, and the threat of collapse from the still standing portion of the building, were not visible atop the rubble on Thursday morning, as scores of people remain missing one week after the collapse.(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Leo Soto, whose high school friend Nicole Langesfeld is missing, along with her husband Luis Sadovnic, adjusts pictures at the makeshift memorial he began to the scores of people who were left missing after the Champlain Towers South condo building partially collapsed nearly a week ago, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in Surfside, Fla.. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Workers peer up at the rubble pile at the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South condo building, ahead of a planned visit to the site by President Joe Biden, on Thursday, July 1, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. Search and rescue workers, who have had to contend with summer rainstorms, fires within the debris, and the threat of collapse from the still standing portion of the building, were not visible atop the rubble on Thursday morning, as scores of people remain missing one week after the collapse.(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Search and rescue personnel work atop the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of people remain missing almost a week after it partially collapsed, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Search and rescue personnel work atop the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of people remain missing almost a week after it partially collapsed, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Rescue workers search in the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condominium, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami. Many people are still unaccounted for after the building partially collapsed last Thursday. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Rescue workers search in the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condominium, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami. Many people are still unaccounted for after the building partially collapsed last Thursday. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Rescue workers search in the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condominium, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami. Many people are still unaccounted for after the building partially collapsed last Thursday. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Rescue workers search in the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condominium, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami. Many people are still unaccounted for after the building partially collapsed last Thursday. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
A Coast Guard boat patrols in front of the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South condo building, ahead of a planned visit to the site by President Joe Biden, on Thursday, July 1, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. Rescue efforts at the site of the partially collapsed condominium building were halted Thursday out of concern about the stability of the remaining structure, officials said.(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)