In the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco, an apartment building that had been condemned for more than ten years but was being used by the homeless collapsed, killing 14 people, including six children, firemen reported on Saturday.
Early on Friday, a building in the Paulista neighborhood of Recife collapsed, sparking a frantic hunt for casualties.
Firefighters said searchers used sniffer dogs to rummage through the debris and managed to find two 15-year-old girls, one 65 years old, and a woman alive.
Another 18-year-old male was taken out alive but later passed away from his wounds.
The fire department stated on Saturday that “search operations are now concentrated on the removal of animals.
Despite the fact that it had been illegal to live there since 2010, the Paulista municipal hall declared in a statement that the building was still occupied by homeless people.
According to the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, the building was referred to by city officials as a “coffin block,” a term used to describe buildings constructed in the Recife metropolitan area on a massive scale in the 1970s.
In a recent visit by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is from the northeastern state, officials brought up the matter of people utilizing legally locked buildings in Paulista, which they described as “chronic.”
Paulista’s collapse marked the second similar tragedy to occur in Pernambuco in less than three months.
In April, a structure in nearby Olinda collapsed, leaving at least five people dead. Before the building in Paulista collapsed, the Recife region had been wet by heavy rains, which prompted Pernambuco’s water and climate agency to issue an alert for the metropolitan area.
According to local officials, a Presbyterian church close to the location of the destroyed building was providing housing assistance to the families residing there.
According to church representatives, gifts of food, clothing, bedding, water, and personal care items were also being accepted.
JOIN US ON WHAT'SAPP, TO GET INSTANT STATUS UPDATES AND BE IN THE KNOW.
CLICK HERE
