Ron DeSantis Accused by Surfside Building Victim's Mother of Not Doing Enough as Death Toll Rises to 5

A distraught mother with ties to victims from a deadly condominium building collapse in Surfside, Florida, accused Republican Governor Ron DeSantis of not doing "enough" to account for over 100 people who still remain missing.

"It's not enough," the woman told DeSantis at the Grand Beach Hotel in Surfside on Saturday, according to Local 10 News. "Imagine if your children were in there. You are going to leave here and you are going to take a nice picture. I know you are doing everything you can, but it's not enough."

The mother was among several relatives of victims who began sobbing on Saturday when officials announced that additional human remains had been found in the collapsed debris.

Champlain Towers South, a 12-story oceanfront condo, partially collapsed before dawn on Thursday when large sections began to crack and crumble, leaving several residents trapped and unaccounted for. Several survivors recounted the building violently shaking around 2 a.m., before they were forced to flee through piles of rubble and concrete.

Search and rescue teams have been sifting through the wreckage for days, as 156 people still remain missing. By Saturday evening, the official death toll from the incident rose to five.

The Miami-Dade Police Department on Saturday identified four of those five victims, who include Stacie Dawn Fang, 54; Antonio Lozano, 83; Gladys Lozano, 79; and Manuel "Manny" LaFont, 54.

DeSantis declared a state of emergency in Miami-Dade County on Thursday, as authorities continue to search with dogs and sonar and video cameras in an attempt to find possible survivors. By Saturday, search efforts had been delayed due to a spontaneous fire that spread across the wreckage.

Though it is not immediately clear what caused the building collapse, a 2018 report that previously flagged "major errors" and structural damage within the building came to light on Friday. The report noted that the building had an inadequate water drainage system on its pool deck, and several residents have previously spoken out about water damage and leaks.

In response to the collapse, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has ordered an immediate audit of all buildings in Miami-Dade County that are older than 40 years and taller than five-stories-high, as well as those built by the same developer that constructed Champlain Towers, the Miami Herald reported.

"We want to make sure that every building has completed their recertification process," she said. "We want to move swiftly to remediate any issues that may have been identified that process."

Though no survivors were found Saturday, Levine Cava emphasized later that evening that hope is not lost and that search and rescue remains the top priority. Similarly, DeSantis tweeted Saturday that "the spirt of hope is on display" with community efforts and donation sites available to help those in need.

Newsweek contacted DeSantis' office for additional comment, but did not hear back in time for publication.