At least 10 people lost their lives after a fire broke out in a defunct hotel that was being used as a makeshift homeless shelter in the city of Porto Alegre in southern Brazil.
Emergency workers confirmed 10 victims at the site, which was operating without proper authorization, said the fire department for Rio Grande do Sul state, whose capital is Porto Alegre.
According to sources forensic experts are there at the site to identify the victims and investigate the cause of the fire.
State Governor Eduardo Leite said the fire, which broke out around 2:00 am (0500 GMT), had left him "deeply upset."
"The fire department dispatched five trucks and dozens of firefighters to fight the flames," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
In the images that have surfaced online, showed the three-storey building engulfed in flames as firefighters battled to extinguish them.