Over ten people have been killed and nine others injured after a fire broke out at an abandoned hotel being used as a makeshift homeless camp in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil.
The fire service of Rio Grande do Sul, whose headquarters is Porto Alegre, verified ten casualties at the site, which was operating without official permits.
According to emergency personnel, nine wounded persons were evacuated and sent to local hospitals.
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"It happened very fast. People yelled 'fire!' When I saw it, it was already two doors from mine. I ran out as fast as I could because there was already a lot of smoke," said an unidentified resident of the building
Officials said the fire started out at 2:00 a.m. (0500 GMT). It took firemen around three hours to get it under control.
"Forensic experts are on the scene to identify the victims and investigate the cause," the fire department stated.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed his sympathies to the victims' families, saying the incident had left him "saddened," in a statement on X, previously Twitter.
"We will continue working on the aftermath of this tragedy and the investigation of the causes. My condolences to the victims' families," State Governor Eduardo Leite wrote on X.
The devastating fire occurred 11 years after another in Rio Grande do Sul state.
In 2013, 242 people died at the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria after sparks from a flare used by a band during a concert ignited the ceiling, trapping hundreds inside while the building went down.
Investigators discovered that the club lacked operational fire extinguishers and had insufficient exits. Four persons were convicted and sentenced to jail sentences ranging from 18 to 22 years.
