The four-story building collapsed like a house of cards. “If I hadn't reacted immediately, I wouldn't have survived.”

There were 35 people in the building. 27 people were evacuated by firefighters, and 8 managed to leave the building on their own. Four people were injured and taken to hospital. Their condition is described as stable.

According to preliminary information, the reason for the collapse of the store complex was overloading the attic, where too many materials were stored.

51 firefighters were immediately dispatched to the scene. Captain Karol Magalhães from the local fire brigade emphasized that the priority was to save trapped people. Additionally, rescue dogs were working on site to check whether there were any injured people under the rubble.

Witness accounts

Witnesses report a huge noise. One of the women said that at first she thought there had been an accident on the street involving a truck. After a while, I saw smoke and realized that the building had collapsed, the woman reported.