Rescuers find body in Sao Paulo
The body of a 75-year-old woman has been found in the rubble of a construction site which collapsed on Friday in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Rescuers are looking for six other people feared buried in a crater left by the collapse of the metro station.
Most of the missing are believed to be inside a minivan which witnesses said had been swept into the pit. Rescue work has been slowed by further landslips and hopes of finding people alive are fading, officials have said.
The authorities identified the body found on Monday as that of Abigail Rossi de Azevedo, who was walking past the construction site when it caved in. Another pedestrian and a lorry driver are also feared to be under the rubble, along with the four occupants of the minivan.
The ground gave way on Friday afternoon in the central Pinheiros district, where workers were digging a large concrete-lined hole as part of construction work on a new underground station. Lorries being used on site fell into the crater, which is some 60m (200ft) wide and 30m (100ft) deep.
It took engineers several hours to stabilise a huge crane that was perched on the edge of the precipice and which threatened to tumble in. An inquiry into what happened has been launched. Officials say heavy rains may have triggered the collapse.
(Published by BBC, January 15, 2007)