SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian rescue workers on Friday searched for survivors in the wreckage of a building that collapsed in the northeastern state of Pernambuco, the local government said, after responding to emergency calls in the outskirts of the capital city of Recife.
Pernambuco’s government said a survivor had already been found but preliminary information pointed to more people still under the rubble of the building in the Janga neighborhood.
A precise figure has not been provided but CNN Brasil reported, citing Pernambuco’s civil defense authorities, that 10 people were estimated to be in the wreckage.
“Civil defense was called at 6:35 am (0935 GMT) to respond to the collapse of the building in Janga,” the Pernambuco government said in a statement on social media. “Eight of our teams have now been mobilized to the site.”
The state’s civil defense did not immediately respond to a request for further details.
Recife, a coastal city of some 1.5 million people, has been grappling with heavy rains in recent days.
The city and its metropolitan region were put under “state of attention” on Friday, which represents “moderate to high risk”, according to the government.
(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Brad Haynes and Mark Porter)
