ZCZC
BFF-22
BRAZIL-DISASTER
Rescuers search for nine missing in Brazil building collapse
RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 16, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Firefighters were searching for at
least nine people missing after a seven-story residential building collapsed
in northeast Brazil on Tuesday, officials said.
Nine people have been pulled alive from the wreckage of the building in
Fortaleza, capital of Ceara state, after it imploded, sending thick clouds of
dust into the air.
Among those rescued was architecture student David Sampaio, who was
located after sending a selfie to his WhatsApp chat group showing himself
smiling and with his thumb up while trapped under the rubble.
State governor Camilo Santana said no one had been found dead so far,
correcting earlier firefighter reports of one fatality. A spokesman confirmed
to AFP late Tuesday that rescuers had not found any bodies.
Eighteen people were believed to have been in or near the building when it
collapsed.
“So far, nine victims have been rescued alive,” said a joint statement by
Ceara’s government and the Fortaleza mayor’s office.
It was not immediately clear what caused the building to collapse at
around 10:30 am (1330 GMT), when most residents would have been at work.
The president of the Regional Council of Engineering and Agriculture of
Ceara, Emanuel Maia Mota, said the building “was undergoing renovations”,
without giving more details.
Piles of debris wrapped in a cloud of dust were seen in images broadcast
on local TV minutes after the collapse of the building, which is surrounded
by houses and other seemingly modern properties.
Building collapses in Brazil tend to happen in poor neighborhoods, known
as favelas, where illegal construction is rampant.
But the building was in Dionisio Torres, a upscale neighborhood of
Fortaleza, and close to Iracema Beach, one of the main attractions in the
area.
In April, 24 people were killed when two buildings in a favela in Rio de
Janeiro collapsed after several days of heavy rains.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1529 hrs