An elderly man has lost his life and a dozen individuals are reported missing following the collapse of a ten-storey building that housed a hotel in the Argentine seaside resort of Villa Gesell, according to local officials and media outlets.
“The incident took place around 1:00 am, when the ten-storey building that contained the Dubrovnik Hotel (…) collapsed,” stated the municipality of Villa Gesell, located 350 kilometres south of Buenos Aires on the Atlantic coastline.
Javier Alonso, the provincial security minister, confirmed that rescuers retrieved the body of an 89-year-old man, while an injured woman was transported to a hospital for treatment.
Approximately 300 rescue personnel, equipped with drones and sniffer dogs, are diligently searching through the debris for signs of survivors.
The cause of the building’s collapse remains unknown.
The municipality has indicated that construction work at the hotel was being carried out “clandestinely” and had been previously halted by authorities in August.
The foreman and three bricklayers have been detained for further questioning.
