Searching for survivors in collapsed Sao Paulo building ends

Rescue teams have begun using excavators to clear the rubble of the 24-storey building which collapsed in Sao Paulo on Tuesday after a fire tore through it, saying that finding any more survivors was highly unlikely.

Two excavators began clearing the debris at the former headquarters of federal police, in which over 300 people were living.

The Sao Paulo firefighters said it would now be very difficult to find either more people injured or dead bodies.

"We use the word improbable, and not impossible. It is improbable due to the fire. It was a very high building," firefighter lieutenant, Guilherme Derrit, told the press.

Derrit explained that, due to high temperatures which reached around 150 degrees during the fire, finding any more survivors had essentially been ruled out.

The collapse came early on Tuesday after a fire which broke out on the fifth floor spread throughout the building.

For the moment, 49 people remain missing, although it is not known if they all perished in the disaster or if some were away and have not been located until now.

According to firefighters, at least four bodies lie in the rubble, one man who was being rescued when the building fell and three relatives of a neighbor, who were said to be inside when the fire broke out.

The building had been occupied by a number of poor families, including a number of foreigners. The Sao Paulo town hall said 372 people belonging to 146 families had been living there.

The fire also spread to two nearby buildings while the collapse also led to the partial destruction of a church.

Since the disaster, the city authorities have announced a revision of around 70 buildings, similarly occupied by poor families, to check their current status.