(Rio de Janeiro) At least ten people died in a fire which broke out overnight from Thursday to Friday in a hotel where homeless people lived in Porto Alegre, in southern Brazil, firefighters announced.
“Ten victims have been confirmed,” Rio Grande do Sul state firefighters said in a statement, specifying that the hotel was operating “illegally”. Forensic scientists are on site to identify victims and investigate the causes of the fire.
Several people were rescued and taken to a hospital in the region, the mayor of Porto Alegre, Sebastiao Melo, indicated on X, without specifying the number. According to local media, there are eleven people.
Images broadcast by local media showed a three-story building on fire, with firefighters working to put it out. They arrived on scene around 2 a.m. (1 a.m. Eastern Time) and brought the fire under control around 5 a.m.
“It happened very quickly, they shouted “fire” and the fire was already in two rooms next to mine, I fled because there was already a lot of smoke,” he testified to the G1 news site a resident of the home, who requested anonymity.
The governor of the state, Eduardo Leite, said on X that he was “deeply shocked” by the tragedy.
Matheus Gomes, a member of the State Legislative Assembly, assured that the establishment received funds from the town hall despite allegations of “irregularities” which he said had been going on for “years”. “It is necessary to investigate not only the fire, but also what led to this announced tragedy,” he added on X.