Brazilian officials reported on Oct. 31 that nine firefighters died in a cave collapse during a training exercise on Sunday.
Accident scene Source: foreign media
The São Paulo Military Fire Department confirmed to ABC that the top of the cave suddenly collapsed while 28 firefighters were training in a cave near the city of Artinopolis, in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. The department said it activated the emergency response at 11:30 a.m. local time on Sunday.
The São Paulo Military Fire Department said the accident killed nine firefighters and injured several others.
Agence France-Presse reported that according to a previous report, 15 firefighters were still buried in the ground, 3 of whom were rescued with fractures and developed hypothermia, and 5 were taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Police and emergency medical teams have joined the ranks of firefighters, doing their best to rescue trapped people, but work has been hampered by torrential rains. Rescuers have difficulty accessing the remote site, and new threats of collapse have complicated rescue efforts.
Cristina Trifoni, the mother of one of the training instructors, said in an interview that the group of firefighters had planned to spend the night in the cave. She said, "The entrance to the cave where they were located collapsed and I was desperate. Relatives of other firefighters are also anxiously awaiting rescue news.
According to the latest news from the ABC in the United States, the São Paulo military fire department said that the rescue operation has now been completed and there are no more victims.
(Editor: ZLQ)