At least eleven people have died after an apartment building collapsed in northeastern Brazil, with three others missing, according to officials, as rescue workers scoured the rubble in a frantic search for survivors.
The dead include men, women and children, aged five to 45, according to a statement from the Pernambuco civil defense services.
Firefighters were continuing to search for a woman and two children under the rubble following the collapse Friday in Paulista, a municipality in the state of Pernambuco.
It said a 65-year-old woman and two teenagers were pulled from the rubble alive.
The residential structure is located in Brazil's northeastern Pernambuco state, in the Janga neighborhood on the outskirts of Recife, the state's capital.
The three-story structure, which was attached to a larger housing complex, had been closed in 2010 due to a risk of collapse but had been illegally occupied since then, the authorities said.
Drone footage captured by Reuters showed the building reduced to rubble, as firefighters and rescue workers rushed around the site.
Officials said the building collapse took place early yesterday morning around 6.35am, when many residents were likely still sleeping.
It was not immediately clear what caused the collapse.
Recife, a coastal city with around 1.5 million residents, has been grappling with heavy rainfall in recent days.
The city and its surrounding metro area were put under a "state of attention" declaration earlier yesterday, meant to trigger swift action from emergency workers.
Pernambuco Governor Raquel Lyra warned earlier in the day that more rain is expected, recommending that locals make sure they can access safe structure
