12 killed in Brazil elderly people's home collapse

Twelve people died when a nursing home in southeastern Brazil collapsed, according to a tally released Friday by firefighters after they concluded search and rescue operations.

Emergency responders rescued eight people alive, including a two-year-old boy, while nine others escaped on their own or with the help of neighbors.

Twenty-nine people were in the four-storey building in the southern city of Belo Horizonte when it collapsed in the early hours of Thursday morning.

As well as the elderly care home, the building housed apartments and a beauty clinic.

The cause of the collapse was under investigation.

Fire department spokesman Henrique Barcellos told reporters at the scene that the building had all the necessary permits.

More than 40 firefighters, with the support of trained dogs, participated in the search efforts.

They included teams from Juiz de Fora, a city in the same state of Minas Gerais where landslides caused by torrential rains left 65 dead last week.