Death toll in Florida condo collapse climbs to 9, with 150 still missing

What caused nearly half the 12-story building to cave in on itself in the wee hours of Thursday as residents slept has yet to be determined.

The official death toll from the rose to nine on Sunday, with more than 150 people still missing, as rescue teams picked through the rubble for a fourth day without finding further signs of life. What caused nearly half the 12-story building to cave in on itself in the wee hours of Thursday as residents slept has yet to be determined, but a 2018 engineer’s inspection report found major structural deterioration in the parking garage beneath the 40-year-old tower. Officials in Surfside, the shore town near Miami where the building stood along the beach, said hope remained that rescuers would yet discover survivors in air pockets that may have formed in the pancaked debris.