Body found underneath rubble of collapsed building

SAO PAULO – Brazilian firefighters have found a body beneath the rubble of a building that burned and collapsed this week in Sao Paulo and say it could be that of a man who died only seconds before he could be rescued.

Sao Paulo Fire Department spokesman Marcos Palumbo told reporters the body was found Friday afternoon near the spot where Ricardo Oliveira Pinheiro fell when the building collapsed on May 1.

He said that part of the rope and improvised harness firefighters used in their attempt to save Pinheiro were found next to the body.

The building collapsed seconds before Pinheiro could tie the harness around himself.

Palumbo said he “cannot officially confirm the body is Ricardo’s, but everything indicates that it is.”