Firefighters are racing to save people trapped at the top of a 13-storey building in the heart of Buenos Aires after a massive fire broke out.
The sixth and seventh floors of the building next to the country’s Ministry of Labour at Avenida Alem 668, near the country’s coast with the Argentine Sea, were engulfed with smoke and flames just before midday today, local time.
While people on the lower floors have been evacuated, eight firefighters are still working to rescue those on the upper floors, after getting a call at 11.37am. People inside the Ministry of Labour have also been evacuated, as a precaution.
Local media reported that at least 12 people have been kept on the building’s terrace and in the back of the building.
Over 15 emergency medical vehicles have been sent to the scene, and hospitals in the surrounding area have been put on alert.
So far, 11 people, including three minors, have been sent to nearby hospitals.
While people on the lower floors have been evacuated, firefighters are still working to rescue those on the upper floors
The sixth and seventh floors of the building next to the country’s Ministry of Labour at Avenida Alem 668, near the country’s coast with the Argentine Sea, were engulfed with smoke and flames
Local media reported that at least 12 people have been kept on the building’s terrace and in the back of the building
So far, 11 people, including three minors, were sent to nearby hospitals
A woman and her son were reportedly taken to the nearby Elizalde Hospital due to smoke inhalation.
The other nine were taken to the Argerich and Ramos Mejía hospitals, including two other minors, while five more people were given oxygen at the scene of the fire.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. Local media has reported that those nearby heard an explosion shortly before the fire broke out.
It was reported that brickwork can be seen strewn across the street below the fire.
The building’s manager told Argentinian newspaper Clarín that the ‘private’ building does not have not have any gas, adding: ‘It is only electric.’
‘I can’t give you any explanation because the firefighters didn’t even let me look at the door.
‘I wasn’t in the building when the explosion occurred so I’m not sure what really happened,’ he said.