Paraguayan Ana Lucía Ruiz Romero, 38, was among the six people killed when a building under construction collapsed in the Penha neighborhood, in eastern São Paulo. The accident occurred at around 2 a.m. on Saturday, September 12, when the structure fell onto a house that also operated as a sewing workshop.
Ruiz Romero was from Belén, in the department of Concepción, and left behind an 18-year-old son. Her body was taken to Paraguay on Monday afternoon. The other five victims were Bolivian, including a 7-year-old girl; several belonged to the same family. Two people survived and were taken to Tatuapé Municipal Hospital with minor injuries.
The rescue operation lasted more than 24 hours and involved firefighters, Civil Defense teams, municipal employees and specialized dogs. The causes of the collapse still depend on investigations by the Scientific Police. Although there was heavy rain overnight, Civil Defense said it is still not possible to attribute the accident to the rainfall.
The construction had a history of irregularities. According to information from São Paulo City Hall, work began in 2019 without the required authorization and was later subject to inspections, fines and a stop-work order. A subsequent project called for demolishing the existing structure before the new construction, but authorities are investigating whether that step was actually carried out.
New Home Constructora was linked to the development. São Paulo's Municipal Comptroller's Office ordered work stoppages at ongoing projects associated with the companies involved and suspended new licensing applications while it investigates possible administrative failures in inspections.
Ronaldo Vivacqua was detained and identified as a possible undisclosed partner in the project. Engineer Cristiano Vivacqua, identified as the author of the project and the work's technical supervisor, and Isis Brandão, who was linked to the company, also had temporary arrest warrants issued and were considered fugitives in the most recent reports. The construction company said it had opened an internal investigation and that, so far, there were no grounds to attribute the collapse exclusively to its actions. The possible influence of earth-moving activity on a neighboring plot will also be examined.
In a separate case in Paraná, seven people were arrested in São José dos Pinhais, in the Curitiba metropolitan area, during an operation that seized more than a ton of marijuana hidden among sacks of soybeans in a truck. Initial investigations indicate that the shipment may have come from Paraguay.
The operation began after an anonymous tip to the Paraná Civil Police. The driver, a Paraguayan national, allegedly received about 15,000 reais for transporting the load. Six other people were waiting at the property, which was reportedly to be used to store and transfer the drugs. All were detained in the act on suspicion of international drug trafficking and criminal association; the truck and the soybean cargo were also seized.