By Daniela Desantis
ASUNCION (Reuters) – Paraguay’s first lady Silvana López Moreira traveled to Florida to accompany her family amid an ongoing search for her sister, who is missing after a condo building collapsed in a Miami suburb, a spokeswoman for her office said on Friday.
The South American country’s foreign ministry said Sophia López Moreira, her husband Luis Pettengill and her three young children were among six Paraguayans missing since Thursday after the partial collapse of the 12-story building.
Rescue workers on Friday were scouring the debris after hearing sounds in the rubble overnight, as officials raised the number of people unaccounted for to 159 and the confirmed death toll to four.
“She traveled to Miami and is there accompanying her parents,” a spokeswoman for her office told Reuters. The spokeswoman declined to comment further on the situation.
President Mario Abdo suspended official activities on Thursday and Foreign Minister Euclides Acevedo said consulate personnel were visiting hospitals and talking with local authorities to obtain more information on the missing persons.
The first lady’s family owned an apartment at the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida, local press reported. Federico López Moreira, Silvana and Sophia’s cousin, told an Asuncion radio station that the family probably traveled to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
(Reporting by Daniela Desantis; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
