Florida: The confirmed death toll in the partial collapse of a 12-storey residential building in Surfside, Florida, has increased to 97 as the search for more victims in the rubble was nearing the end, as per reports. In the weeks-long search, 240 people are accounted for, 97 victims have been recovered, 90 of which have been identified and 88 next of kin have been notified, according to a statement released by the Miami-Dade County on Thursday.

Moreover, Eight people are potentially unaccounted for, all of whom have open missing persons reports with the Miami-Dade Police Department. Speaking of the rescue crews, Alvaro Zabaleta, a Miami-Dade police spokesman, said on Thursday: "They're almost at the bottom to be able to say, we've reached rock bottom, we've searched every inch of this property and that's when we say, 'Okay, we're done'." Zabaleta said the search for any other possible victims would continue, adding it remained unclear how long the process may last.

One of the deadliest building collapses in the history of United States, the disaster was followed by painstaking rescue efforts that shifted to recovery a week ago. No survivors have been found since the early hours after the collapse.

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