26 January 2012
Last updated at 00:32 ET
Police reportedly cordoned off the area and cut off electricity
Two buildings – one nearly 20 storeys high – have collapsed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, filling streets with masonry and covering cars with debris.
Officials say up to 11 people are believed to be inside the buildings and five people have been rescued.
The cause of the collapse remains unclear, but witnesses spoke of an explosion and a strong smell of gas.
City Mayor Eduardo Paes said that they were focusing on rescue efforts before looking into the incident’s cause.
According to the BBC’s Paulo Cabral, rescue workers were able to pull a cleaner from inside one of the elevators in the rubble after he managed to call a friend on his mobile phone.
The buildings – located near the Municipal Theatre and the headquarters of oil giant Petrobras – crushed a four-storey construction site on their way down.
The area surrounding the buildings is now covered in rubble,
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