Biden headed to Florida as condo collapse death toll rises

Death toll rises to 18, with 145 people still missing and feared trapped in the rubble a week after high-rise collapsed.

US President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, will travel to Surfside, Florida, site of a deadly condominium collapse, to offer condolences to the families of those killed and missing as the casualty toll climbed higher. Biden, whose personal experience with tragedy has been a hallmark of his political career, will reprise the role of “consoler-in-chief” on Thursday while rescue teams continue to search for victims in the rubble of the high-rise, which caved in a week ago as residents slept. The confirmed on death toll rose to 18 on Wednesday with the discovery of six more bodies in the ruins of the Champlain Towers South condo, including the remains of two children, aged 4 and 10, Miami-Dade County Daniella Levine Cava said. Another 145 people are missing and feared trapped in the rubble.