Forensic experts in Porto Alegre are working to determine the cause of the fire and identify the victims.
At least 10 people have been killed in a fire at an abandoned hotel used as a makeshift homeless shelter in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, officials said.
According to the Rio Grande do Sul state fire department, rescue workers confirmed ten victims on Friday in the Garoa Floresta, which was operating without proper authorization.
The fire broke out around 2 a.m. local time (0500 GMT), officials said. It took firefighters around three hours to bring the fire under control.
“Forensic experts are on site to identify the victims and investigate the cause of the fire,” the fire department said in a statement.
Porto Alegre Mayor Sebastiao Melo wrote on X that several injured people were rescued and taken to hospital, but did not specify the number. Local media reports put the number of injured at 11, some in serious condition.
Images carried by Brazilian media overnight showed the building engulfed in flames as firefighters battled to put out the blaze.
“I only had time to put on my flip flops and run. “My sister, who lived on the third floor, ended up burned,” 56-year-old Marcelo Wagner Schelech told local newspaper Zero Hora.
“It happened very quickly. People were shouting “Fire!” When I saw it, it was already two doors away from me. I ran out as fast as I could because there was already a lot of smoke,” an unidentified resident of the building also told the G1 news site.
The state’s governor, Eduardo Leite, promised to investigate the incident.
“The fire department sent five trucks and dozens of firefighters to fight the flames,” he wrote on social media.
“We will continue to work through the aftermath of this tragedy and investigate the causes. My condolences go out to the families of the victims.”
State lawmaker Matheus Gomes accused the city government of funding the homeless shelter despite facing reports of noncompliance “for years.”
“There must be an investigation not only into the fire but into the entire chronicle of this foretold tragedy,” Gomes wrote on X.
The building is part of the Garoa group, which owns at least 10 small hotels in Porto Alegre.
In 2022, a fire broke out at another hotel, killing one person and injuring 11.