4 more bodies recovered in rubble after Florida condo collapse

The death toll in the condo building collapse in Surfside, Florida, climbed to 16 on Wednesday after four additional victims were recovered, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced at a press conference. The number of people still unaccounted for stands at 147.

No one has been pulled alive from the rubble since last Thursday, hours after the condominium crumbled in the middle of the night.

The collapse is not only one of the worst disasters in South Florida, but also in the country’s history.

“This is the third largest building failure in the history of the United States – only third to Oklahoma and New York City – so we are doing everything that we can,” Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s chief financial officer, said, CBS Miami reported. He was referring to the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and the terror attacks on the Twin Towers in 2001.

Authorities in Florida have asked the federal government for another rescue team to help comb through the rubble as they face the possibility of severe weather in the days ahead. Two storm systems in the Atlantic could become tropical systems, according to the National Hurricane Center, but it’s unclear if they would threaten the U.S.

“There are two areas of (possible storm) development out in the Atlantic, heading to the Caribbean. We have eight urban rescue teams in Florida. We talked about doing a relief,” Kevin Guthrie of the Florida Division of Emergency Management said Tuesday night. “We have all the resources we need but we’re going to bring in another team. We want to rotate those out so we can get more resources out.”

Contributing: The Associated Press 

CBS News is talking to families, first responders and others impacted by the Florida building collapse as part of a special airing Thursday, July 1 at 8 p.m. ET. Download the CBS News app on your cellphone or connected TV to watch “Surfside Collapse: A Search for Answers.”