A ten-story hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has collapsed after undergoing illegal renovations. Authorities have confirmed one casualty and several injuries. At least 7 people are expected to be trapped in the rubble and debris.
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Over 300 rescuers are working by hand to uncover any trapped people. They work by hand whilst awaiting a crane and engineers. Rescuers are using drones, sniffer dogs, and probes with cameras and microphones for the search.
According to the Daily Mail, Javier Alonso, security minister for the Buenos Aires province, said, "The hotel imploded, it fell on itself and the last three floors tilted and crushed 25 percent of the building that was next door."
Hotel Collapses Due To Illegal Renovations
An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the collapse. Work without the proper permits and due process was being done to the Dubrovnik building. Fire Chief Hugo Piriz said that "it can be confirmed that the structure in the collapsed part would have been modified illegally and irregularly."
Authorities have detained the foreman and three bricklayers questioning.
Alonso has warned that uncovering the survivors and surveying the wreckage will be slow thanks to the amount of debris. He reassures everyone that rescuers can still find survivors even a week after such collapses.
Families gather outside the hotel to await their loved ones who were in the building at the time of collapse.
"It was like a missile fell and split the building in two," a neighbor said.
"Time is going by and I want my son alive. I want my son alive and I want him whole,' Silvana Perhauc, a mother of one of the missing people, said according to the outlet.
Authorities and rescuers will continue to remove the rubble by hand to rescue the trapped civilians. As time goes by, the death toll and rescue count may increase. I hope rescuers find all the trapped people and bring them to safety.
