Four-story São Paulo shop building collapses as workers haul fabric rolls to its upper floors
A four-story building with a clothing store on Rua Maria Joaquina in São Paulo's Brás district collapsed on the evening of Nov. 6 while workers were carrying rolls of fabric to its top floors. All 35 people inside got out alive, and firefighters said 27 were injured.
The building at Rua Maria Joaquina 192 came down at about 6:38 p.m., Metrópoles reported, and a camera in the city's Smart Sampa monitoring system recorded the moment it fell. Fire department spokeswoman Capt. Karoline Magalhães said 35 people were inside. Eight got out on their own and rescue crews brought out the other 27. Four were taken to the UPA Mooca urgent care unit, according to the city, and most of the injuries were minor.
Witnesses told SBT News the structure gave way while workers unloaded a truck of fabric rolls and carried them up to the two highest floors. The state's Polícia Civil said the building could not bear the weight of the container load. No engineering assessment has been released, and officials have not said how much material was stored upstairs.
São Paulo's subprefectures department said the building had no valid operating permit (alvará de funcionamento) and that it had no record of complaints about the building's safety or about illegal trade at the address. The owner had not been identified by Saturday morning, SBT News reported. Civil defense crews were checking whether neighboring buildings must be closed, and the traffic agency kept the street blocked between Rua Mendes Jr and Rua Joli.
Why it matters: Upper floors of shops are often turned into storage with nobody checking what the floor can carry. Before a client stacks stock upstairs, get the design floor load from the drawings or an engineer and post it on that floor.
Sources
- Prédio de quatro andares desaba no Brás, em SP; há feridosSBT News, Nov 6
- Câmera de segurança flagra o momento exato do desabamento de prédio no BrásMetrópoles, Nov 6
- Prédio que desabou no Brás não tinha alvará de funcionamentoSBT News, Nov 7