Five dead after 'condemned' building collapses during heavy rain in Brazil
Eight people, including children, are missing after the building fell in the northeastern state of Pernambuco. Four people have been rescued from the rubble.
Saturday 8 July 2023 05:00, UK
At least five people have died after a "condemned" residential block in Brazil collapsed following heavy rainfall.
Eight others, including children, are missing after the building fell in the city of Recife, in the northeastern state of Pernambuco.
Officials said four people had been rescued alive from the rubble after emergency crews were called just after 6.30am local time on Friday.
It is unclear what caused the collapse, but the coastal city of 1.5 million people has been hit by heavy rain in recent days.
Former residents of the block said authorities evicted them from the building back in 2009, but claimed others had since moved in.
Local Elisangela told reporters: "This building had already been condemned 14 years ago, and we had to leave.
"My mother used to live in the building. But when we left, people invaded [the building]… they did a lot of renovations."
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The Pernambuco government said eight rescue teams had been sent to the site to search for survivors.