One person has been killed and many remain trapped in the rubble after a 10-storey hotel collapsed in Argentina.
The Dubrovnik hotel building in the coastal city of Villa Gesell in Buenos Aires province collapsed earlier today, the local municipality said in a statement.
Firefighters searching for survivors rescued a living woman from the rubble of the hotel, while an estimated nine people are trapped.
An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the collapse, but the Villa Gesell municipality said the hotel was undergoing renovations without the proper permits.
Javier Alonso, Minister of Security for Buenos Aires Province, said: “The hotel imploded, falling on itself and the last three floors toppled, crushing 25 percent of the building next door.”
Mr. Alonso said neighbors heard something “like a creak and a vibration in the floor and a few minutes later it collapsed.”
He warned that the rescue process would be “slow” given the amount of rubble, but stressed that survivors were sometimes found under the rubble for up to a week after such a collapse.
Drone footage shows rescue efforts on the ground in Argentina today after a hotel collapsed
Firefighters and rescuers search for survivors in the rubble of the partially collapsed Dubrovnik Hotel in Villa Gesell, Argentina
Rescue teams are searching the rubble for people who are probably still trapped
A drone shot shows the remains of the Dubrovnik hotel after it collapsed in the coastal city of Villa Gesell, Buenos Aires
Mr Alonso told journalists that an 80-year-old man was killed in the collapse and that a woman was pulled alive from the rubble.
He added that between seven and nine people, believed to be masons working on the hotel’s restoration, are trapped.
Rescue teams began removing the rubble by hand as they waited for a crane and some engineers to assess the area.
“It was like a rocket fell and the building split in two,” a neighbor told TN television.
A 79-year-old woman from the building next door was rescued alive and injured after knocking on a pipe.
‘We got closer to the sound and managed to hear the voice. It was hard work, it took several hours,” Piriz told reporters.
More than 300 rescue workers searched for other survivors with drones, sniffer dogs and probes with cameras and microphones.
Rescue teams began removing the rubble by hand as they waited for a crane and some engineers to assess the area
Dramatic aerial photos show a pile of rubble where the building once stood, among other high-rise blocks
A photo of the 10-story hotel complex before the collapse early Tuesday morning
The municipality of Villa Gesell said that work was being carried out on the hotel “clandestinely” and had already been stopped by authorities in August.
The foreman and three masons have been arrested for questioning.
Relatives of the victims gathered at the building to wait for news of their loved ones as a bulldozer removed the rubble.
“Time passes and I want my son to be alive. I want my son to live and be whole,” said Silvana Perhauc, the mother of one of the missing people.
Dramatic aerial photos show a pile of rubble where the building once stood, among other high-rise blocks.
The complex is located near the center of the seaside resort and a stone’s throw from the beach.
Hugo Piriz, the city’s fire chief, said they were searching the rubble for “between seven and nine people.”
“Efforts are underway to rescue a woman who says there is someone standing next to her,” he said in an interview with news channel TN.
‘Although it is not possible to speak with exact details about the collapse at this time, it can be confirmed that the structure in the collapsed part [the rear part] would have been changed illegally and irregularly,” the municipal council said.
“The municipality of Villa Gesell asks residents and the media to be careful with the information they spread,” the statement continued.
‘These are key moments in which work is being done to prevent the loss of life.’