VIDEO: Fire destroys apartment in Bela Vista and takes hundreds of residents to the streets in the early hours of the morning; there were no injuries

There were no reports of injuries and the building was cleared by Civil Defense at around 6am, except for the unit where the fire started and the apartment directly above, which had its slab damaged by the heat (see video above).

According to the condominium manager, Camilo Nogueira, the fire started around 3am. "Luckily I was awake, I noticed the fire and alerted the group in the building, in addition to triggering the alarm and shouting for everyone to leave", he told g1. Most of the residents came down to the street, he said.

Videos recorded by a resident of a neighboring building show flames coming out of the property's window. After fighting the fire, an intense column of smoke could still be seen coming out of the apartment. The facade of the upper floors was blackened by soot.

According to the Fire Department, five vehicles were mobilized for the incident and the fire was extinguished at around 4:40 am.

The apartment where the fire started, a studio, was completely consumed. The resident was in the building, but not inside the unit when the fire started, according to the property manager. The official cause has not been officially determined, but he said the building does not have piped gas and that no signs of an electrical fault were identified.

After an inspection carried out by Civil Defense, residents were able to return to the building at around 6am. A few hours later, a new assessment authorized residents of the other apartments on the affected floor to return to their units.

According to the property manager, residents of the units closest to the fire site will be unlikely to be able to return this Sunday due to the strong smell of smoke and the char left by the fire. The six units facing the building's facade were the most impacted.