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At least eleven dead in the fire of a hospital in Rio de Janeiro. The fire started in the early evening on Thursday, September 12, and was under control in a few hours. But firefighters spent the night looking for bodies among the rubble.
With our correspondent in Rio, Sarah Cozzolino
Scenes of chaos. A thick black smoke, a building destroyed by flames, and in the foreground, white mattresses, placed on the floor, in the street. Families and neighbors come to see if their relatives, interned in the Badim hospital, near the Maracana stadium, are among the victims or have been evacuated to other hospitals in the city. For the moment, we do not yet know the identity of all the victims.
The causes of the fire remain to be determined, but the authorities evoke a short circuit at a generator. The mayor of the city, Marcelo Crivella , wondered about the possibility of sabotage.
This is the third time in a year that a great fire has buried the city of Rio. In September 2018, the National Museum , the largest museum of natural history in Latin America had burned. Last February, the fire at the training center of the Flamengo Football Club caused the death of 10 teenagers. Each time, short circuits and lack of maintenance were responsible for these deadly fires.