A seven-storey residential building has collapsed in the city of Fortaleza in north-eastern Brazil, killing at least one person, firefighters say.
Fire department commander Cleyton Bezerra said seven people were rescued after the building came crashing down. But 10 more are feared trapped in the rubble.
One person is reportedly trapped in an elevator, he added.
Firefighters say they received mobile phone calls from some of those buried beneath the rubble and that they were being led to their location with the help of descriptions of where they were when the collapse happened.
Rescue workers have asked for silence at the site while encouraging possible survivors to shout out in order to hone in on them better.
A puppy was also pulled alive from the rubble.
The building in Dionísio Torres, an upscale neighbourhood of Fortaleza, is about 40 years old, as a former resident told.
Francineudo Rodrigues criticized the maintenance of the building where his father Francisco has worked as a doorman for eight years.
“I’ve seen cracks in columns; I’ve seen many problems that were not solved since I started coming here,” Rodrigues told journalists.
Rodrigues, who also does jobs at the building, said his father is alive at a local hospital.
Fortaleza Mayor Roberto Claudio said it was not immediately clear what caused the building to collapse. He promised a “rigorous investigation.”
