Eight people killed in catastrophic building collapse in Recife, Brazil

At least eight people succumbed to traumatic injuries after they were crushed under the rubble of an unfortunate building that collapsed in Recife, Brazil, rescuers said Saturday.

The block collapsed on Friday in the northeastern state of Pernambuco, killing a number of people, including two children, ages five and eight.

While the cause of the unfortunate collapse remains unclear, the region has experienced heavy rains, the BBC reported.

Six individuals are still unaccounted for in the Janga neighbourhood, while four others were discovered alive after being rescued from the wreckage.

The building collapsed in Recife's Paulista neighbourhood, where some locals complained about the poor building practises and called this particular style of four-story structure a "coffin block."

One of the residents of the area, Elisangela, told reporters: "This building had already been condemned 14 years ago, and we had to leave. My mother used to live in the building. But when we left, people invaded [the building]... They did a lot of renovations."

Many residents of the building would have been sleeping when the building collapsed, according to officials, at about 06:35 am local time on Friday (09:35 GMT).

According to local media, a mother, 43, and her son, 19, were also among the victims.

The Pernambuco government said eight rescue teams had been sent to the site to search for survivors, Sky News reported.

On Friday, Pernambuco Governor Raquel Lyra warned residents to make sure they could get to safe structures because more rain was forecast.