Buildings collapse in Rio de Janeiro
- 12 years ago
Eleven people are injured and more are feared dead after two buildings collapsed in downtown Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday.
Doctor Jose Antonio Diniz said he rushed to the collapse when he heard the news.
He helped rescue the doorman, who escaped with minor injuries.
(SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) DOCTOR WHO HELPED RESCUE EFFORTS, JOSE ANTONIO DINIZ, SAYING:
"We managed to rescue only one person up to now. This person had superficial injuries and will be examined, of course, but he was conscious and said his name was Marcelo and he was the building's doorman."
The two buildings, located in Brazil's second largest city, collapsed after a large explosion was heard.
Twenty storeys and another structure half its size came tumbling down, surrounding the area with dust and debris.
Severino, a witness to the collapse compared the incident to 9.11.
(SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) UNIDENITIFIED COLLAPSE WITNESS, SAYING:
"At first I thought someone was throwing rubble, that it was nothing serious. Then I started to take some steps back and all of a sudden the building collapsed, it came down completely. It looked somewhat like that September 11 incident."
By midnight, rescue workers had pulled four people alive from the wreckage, with no dead bodies found.
Electricity had been cut off after a strong smell of gas was detected to avert the possibility of fires, and traffic had been suspended.
Officials are trying to calm concerns over the city's inability to improve infrastructure before co-hosting the 2014 world Cup and the Olympic Games two years later.
Sarah Wali, Reuters
Doctor Jose Antonio Diniz said he rushed to the collapse when he heard the news.
He helped rescue the doorman, who escaped with minor injuries.
(SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) DOCTOR WHO HELPED RESCUE EFFORTS, JOSE ANTONIO DINIZ, SAYING:
"We managed to rescue only one person up to now. This person had superficial injuries and will be examined, of course, but he was conscious and said his name was Marcelo and he was the building's doorman."
The two buildings, located in Brazil's second largest city, collapsed after a large explosion was heard.
Twenty storeys and another structure half its size came tumbling down, surrounding the area with dust and debris.
Severino, a witness to the collapse compared the incident to 9.11.
(SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) UNIDENITIFIED COLLAPSE WITNESS, SAYING:
"At first I thought someone was throwing rubble, that it was nothing serious. Then I started to take some steps back and all of a sudden the building collapsed, it came down completely. It looked somewhat like that September 11 incident."
By midnight, rescue workers had pulled four people alive from the wreckage, with no dead bodies found.
Electricity had been cut off after a strong smell of gas was detected to avert the possibility of fires, and traffic had been suspended.
Officials are trying to calm concerns over the city's inability to improve infrastructure before co-hosting the 2014 world Cup and the Olympic Games two years later.
Sarah Wali, Reuters