Emergency workers have given up hope of finding survivors in a collapsed Florida condo building, telling distraught families that there was “no chance of life” in the rubble as crews shifted their efforts from rescue to recovery mode on Wednesday, writes The Guardian.

The announcement followed increasingly somber reports from officials, who have told relatives to brace for the worst.

“At this point, we have truly exhausted every option available to us in the search-and-rescue mission,” Daniella Levine Cava, the mayor of Miami-Dade, said at a news conference.

Families of about 100 people still unaccounted for in the south Florida condominium collapse are preparing for news of “tragic loss”, said Levine Cava.

The official death toll rose to 46 on Wednesday morning as the search for victims in the dangerous pile of rubble of a Miami-area high-rise condominium reached its 14th day.