Explosives experts leveled a 22-story apartment building Saturday that had partially collapsed and killed at least two people. The building was too unstable to continue searching for six missing people believed to be buried under the rubble.
The collapse of the Palace II apartment building - parts of which came down Feb. 22 and more on Friday - sparked a debate in Brazil about unsafe building practices and immunity for politicians.The 176-unit building in Rio's fashionable Barra da Tijuca neighborhood had been evacuated once before, in December 1996, because of structural problems.
An engineer who works for the police blamed poor quality cement for the latest collapses. "It crumbled in my hands," Hugo Monteiro told reporters.
The apartment building was built by the Sersan Construction Co., which is owned by federal lawmaker Sergio Naya. A Rio judge froze his assets Thursday, and residents are expected to file a civil suit against him seeking compensation. But as a sitting congressman, he cannot face criminal charges in connection with the deaths.
Naya, 56, says he is a victim of a "public lynching" and that only Congress can decide whether he is liable for criminal charges.
It took only five seconds and 55 pounds of dynamite to raze the building Saturday.