Rescue Workers In Miami Identify Bodies Of Reb Yehuda Aryeh Leib Olivekowitz And His Wife Ruth A’H

NEW YORK (VINnews) — Rescue workers at the site of the South Champlain Tower in Miami have identified the bodies of Reb Yehuda Aryeh Leib Olivekowitz (79) and his wife Ruth (74) in the rubble of the collapsed tower. A third Jewish victim, Stacey Fang (54) was identified Sunday. In all, 9 victims of the collapse have been identified so far.

Aryeh Olivekowitz and his wife lived in condo 704 in the tower. “There are few words which can give comfort since we are dealing with a terrible tragedy which inconceivably occurred in the middle of the night,” said Rabbi Shalom Ber Lipsker, the spiritual leader of the Surfside Jewish community and rabbi of the Bal Harbour synagogue which has a number of members missing.

Friends of the family described Aryeh and Ruth as benevolent people who were always seeking to provide support for sacred initiatives. The couple, who immigrated from Venezuela, were parents to Mrs. Leah Pohell, a resident of West Virginia Park in Chicago and a member of the local Chabad community.

In 2019 the couple donated a Sefer Torah to Yeshivas Ohr Eliyahu, the Lubavitch mesivta in Chicago where their daughter works as a secretary.

Nearly 150 people are still missing from the collapse last Thursday morning, which was apparently caused by corrosion from the salty sea air in Southern Florida, according to a 2018 engineering report. The report also noted that the building was sinking at a rate of 2 mm per year.

Hundreds of rescue workers and firemen continue to search for survivors in the rubble of the building. Israeli Diaspora Minister Nahman Shai, who is at the scene, said that the chances of finding survivors are “close to zero. I was there, it doesn’t look like anyone could survive in there.”