A memorial near the Champlain Towers disaster site holds photos of missing persons in Surfside, Fla. Rescuers continue their search for survivors, but have confirmed that nine people are dead and more than 150 are still missing. Gerald Herbert/AP
More than 150 people are still unaccounted for in Surfside, Fla., after a 12-story condo building partially collapsed Thursday. Nine people have been confirmed dead, one of whom died in the hospital after being pulled from the building's wreckage. Here is what we know so far about the victims that have been identified by authorities.
Stacie Fang
Fifty-four-year-old Fang was the first victim identified by the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's office. Fang was transported to Aventura Hospital where she was treated for blunt force trauma. She succumbed to her injuries and died at the medical center.
She is survived by her son, 15-year-old Jonah Handler, who was rescued from the rubble shortly after the tower collapsed early Thursday morning.
"There are no words to describe the tragic loss of our beloved Stacie. The members of the Fang and Handler family would like to express our deepest appreciation for the outpouring of sympathy, compassion and support we have received," NBC6 in Miami reported. "The many heartfelt words of encouragement and love have served as a much needed source of strength during this devastating time."
She was expected to be buried in New Jersey on Sunday, according to NBC6.
She lived in apartment 1002.
Gladys and Antonio Lozano
Mere hours before the building partially collapsed, Antonio, 83, and his wife Gladys, 79, were enjoying dinner with their son, Sergio. The couple lived in apartment 903 and could see Sergio's tower apartment opposite their own.
The couple had known each other for more than 60 years, according to Miami's Local10. They would have celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary next month.
Sergio told the station that peace might be found in knowing that the two "went together and went quickly."
Antonio and Gladys at one point in time joked that neither wanted the other to die first because they didn't want to live without each other.
Manuel "Manny" LaFont
A native of Houston, 54-year-old LaFont was in apartment 801. He was in the eighth-floor unit with another person also from Houston, who is believed to be a family friend of LaFont's, Houston's ABC13 reported. The identify of the second person is being withheld until the family is notified.
LaFont's former wife, Adriana Lafont, said he was an adoring father of two. They had celebrated Father's Day together just days earlier.
"I lived in that building for 10 years," she told the station. "My kids were born there. They learned how to swim in that pool. We had birthday parties, first communions, baptisms, so many memories."
Emma Bowman contributed to this story.
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