Buenos Aires: At least three people were reported killed and 18 injured on Friday after a supermarket roof collapsed in western Argentina, according to authorities who said an undetermined number of people were missing in the accident.
The incident occurred shortly before closing late on Thursday when an adjacent building under construction collapsed in the city of Neuquen, damaging the structure supporting the market’s roof while dozens of customers shopped inside.
Provincial civil defence chief Vanina Merlo earlier suggested that six people were missing but a civil defence official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the number of missing was unknown.
Merlo told reporters that emergency workers were moving carefully given the risk of a further structural collapse, warning that there could be more victims. Three truckloads of debris already have been removed.
“The ceiling fell two metres [seven feet] from where I was standing and then I was stuck with two or three people in a hole, and a policeman helped us out a side door. I was saved by a miracle,” a customer who gave her name as Paula, told TN television.
Neuquen, a city of 300,000 about 1,150 kilometres (715 miles) southwest of Buenos Aires, is the capital of Neuquen State.
