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    January 26, 2012

Fatalities in Brazilian High Rise Collapse

   VOA News
   Rescue workers carry the body of a victim after a building collapsed in
   Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Jan. 26, 2012.
   Photo: AP
   Rescue workers carry the body of a victim after a building collapsed in
   Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Jan. 26, 2012.

   Rescue workers in Brazil have recovered at least three bodies from the
   rubble of three collapsed buildings in downtown Rio de Janeiro.
   Brazilian media say emergency crews found the bodies Thursday as
   workers used dogs and heavy machinery to search through the wreckage of
   the buildings that collapsed late Wednesday.

   Mayor Eduardo Paes told reporters at least 21 people are still missing,
   and that at least six others were injured.
   Paes said the collapse of the buildings, said to be 20, 10 and four
   stories high, appeared to be from structural problems. Authorities also
   confirmed construction was being carried out on one of the buildings
   and could have contributed to the collapse.
   Witnesses said they heard what sounded like an explosion Wednesday
   evening, and then with a rumble, the top floors of the buildings began
   collapsing, covering vehicles with thick dust. One unidentified witness
   likened the scene to that of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks
   in the United States.
   "At first I thought someone was throwing rubble, that it was nothing
   serious," said one unidentified collapse witness. "Then I started to
   take some steps back and all of a sudden the building collapsed. It
   came down completely."
   Officials say the buildings were for commercial use, not residential.
   Television reports say police have cordoned off the area around the
   destroyed buildings, and that electricity has been cut off to the area
   over concerns of a possible gas leak.
   The infrastructure problems come as Brazil is making improvements
   before hosting the 2014 World Cup and the Summer Olympics two years
   later.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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