Five people were confirmed dead, eight remained buried beneath the rubble or unaccounted for as a residential building in Paulista, a city in the Recife metropolitan area of Pernambuco, Brazil, collapsed on Friday. Firefighters reported the incident and said the collapse prompted urgent search and rescue operations in the northeastern city amid heavy rainfall that has drenched the region for weeks.
Among the victims was a 43-year-old woman, three men, two additional adults aged 21 and 45, and another person under 12. An 18-year-old who had been rescued from the wreckage survived long enough to be hospitalized, but succumbed to injuries there. Authorities noted that five of the eight missing individuals are minors, underscoring the ongoing concern for younger residents in the affected area.
Rescue crews continued their efforts through the night with support from trained search dogs and specialized debris removal teams. Two women who were found alive at the site were transported to a municipal hospital with fractures, while four other people connected to the property but not listed among the building occupants sustained minor injuries.
The collapse occurred as torrential rains battered the Recife region, raising alarms about landslides, flooding, and damaged infrastructure. The weather has disrupted daily life, damaged trees and utility poles, and contributed to numerous traffic incidents in the vicinity this Friday. Local authorities have urged residents to stay clear of unstable structures and follow safety advisories as operations continue.
The Beira-Mar residential complex, a densely populated area within Paulista, had been closed in 2010 due to safety concerns. Despite the closure, the building was later reoccupied by its owners without formal permission. A 2018 inspection by the Fire Department had already indicated possible unsafe conditions, and a state bank insurer that finances the apartments had published warnings about similar risks the day before the tragedy, highlighting a pattern of repeated safety failures and regulatory gaps in the property’s oversight.
In a related disaster last April, six people perished when another residential building collapsed in Olinda, a neighboring city within the same metro area. The three-story Leme building was situated in Jardim Atlântico and had faced an evacuation order since 2000 due to the risk of collapse, illustrating a troubling history of unsafe housing in the region. Local authorities have stressed the need for rigorous structural assessments and greater enforcement of safety standards to prevent similar tragedies in the future.