Sisters Killed in Condo Collapse Placed in Same Coffin

They were buried alongside parents Marcus and Anaely Guara Tuesday
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 7, 2021 3:10 PM CDT
Sisters Killed in Condo Collapse Placed in Same Coffin
Guara, his wife Anaely, and daughters Lucia and Emma, died in the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium building in nearby Surfside.   (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

The bodies of two young sisters pulled from the rubble of a Florida condo building—so tiny that the 4- and 10-year-olds were placed in the same casket—were buried alongside parents Marcus and Anaely Guara Tuesday, their white coffin draped with pink and purple ribbons. Lucia Guara, also known as "Lulu bear," loved watching Jeopardy with her dad, dancing, and doing yoga with her mother. Her baby sister, Emma, was the princess of the family who enjoyed her dad's piggyback rides and cuddling with her mom, family member Digna Rodriguez said. The now-razed Champlain Towers South building overlooks the parking lot of the church where Emma was baptized in 2016 and Lucia had her first communion in 2019, reports the AP. The Rev. Juan J. Sosa asked for continued prayers. "We still have about 15 of our other parishioners missing," he said.

"May we all connect with family as Lucia would. May we all move with grace as Emma would. May we all be as devoted and loyal as Marcus and Anaely were," Rodriguez said. The following day brought news that workers had uncovered 10 more bodies from the rubble, bringing the death toll to 46. The latest retrieval reflects what rescue officials have said would be a ramped-up pace of work throughout the debris field after the remaining portion of the condo building was demolished Sunday night. The AP reports Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah reported the somber news that so far no new "voids" have been discovered in the newly accessible areas. Rescuers had hoped to find new pockets where there might potentially be survivors.

(More Florida condo collapse stories.)

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