Three children aged 5 to 9 were among the latest victims found in the rubble of last month’s tragic Florida condo building collapse, which has so far left 94 confirmed dead.
Two of the three youngsters identified Sunday are the nieces of Paraguayan First Lady Silvana Lopez Moreira — Alexia Maria Pettengill Lopez Moreira, 9, and her 6-year-old sister, Anna Sophia Pettengill Lopez Moreira, police said on Facebook.
Lorenzo De Oliveira Leone, 5, was also among the 10 new victims ID’ed Sunday.
The Paraguayan first lady’s sister, Sophia Lopez Moreira and her brother-in-law, Luis Pettengill, were found in the ruins earlier, along with their youngest son, 3-year-old Luis Lopez Moreira.
The grim news is the latest blow to grieving relatives who remain housed in a nearby hotel while they wait for victims to be recovered and identified.
“We know that they are going to continue to need our support in the weeks and months ahead and we’re here for them,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said.
The 12-story beachfront building collapsed shortly before 1:30 a.m. on June 24.
Officials said at a briefing Monday that 22 people remain missing in the rubble.
Several other children have been found in the ruins of Champlain Towers South since first responders began searching for survivors following the collapse.
Among them was 7-year-old Stella Cattarossi, whose father was among the first-responders working on the pile when her body was found.
No survivors have been found since after the day of the collapse.
The effort has been reclassified as a recovery operation, with hopes of finding any survivors diminished after more than two weeks.