Favela in flames: Fire sweeps through Brazil shantytown
Aerial footage shows fire ripping through Brazilian slum. Photo: YouTube
A fire has swept through a slum on the outskirts of Brazil’s biggest city and authorities say hundreds of people had to flee as flames consumed wooden homes.
Fire department officials say the fire destroyed most of the shantytown in Osasco, a suburb on the edge of Sao Paulo. There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths.
Images aired by the Globo TV showed large black clouds of smoke hovering over the slum. The network also showed residents desperately trying to save personal belongings like mattresses, stoves, computers and refrigerators before the flames reached their homes.
The newspaper Correio Paulista in Osasco said the shantytown is home to about 1000 people living in 120 shacks.