More bodies found at Florida condo site -rescuer

Teams searching the debris of the collapsed apartment building in Florida found more bodies overnight, a rescue team leader said Wednesday.

The new death toll will not be disclosed until next of kin are advised, Colonel Golan Vach, head of an Israeli military unit that specializes in search and rescue operations, told CNN.

The count of 12 dead is expected to rise as hope dwindles for the nearly 150 people still unaccounted for since the tragedy in the early hours of last Thursday.

Vach said he and other rescuers had found what he called tunnels under the debris and they crawled through them looking for survivors.  

In one case this space was between balconies of apartments that pancaked when part of the building collapsed, he said.

"Between them remained a big space of air," he said. "We crawled in those tunnels. We called people and unfortunately we didn't find anything."

Vach was asked if he was hopeful of finding anyone alive almost a week after the Champlain Towers South building suddenly came crashing down in the middle of the night.

He said his hope was "very, very minor. We must be realistic."

But he added, "Until one week, I hope." -Agence France-Presse