Video: burning tower block collapses in Brazil

At least one person has died and others are missing after a burning tower block in Brazil collapsed.

The inferno broke out at around 1.30am Tuesday morning in a building in Sao Paulo city centre and raged for several hours before dozens of fire engines carrying upwards of 150 firefighters were able to bring the blaze under control, Euronews reports.

Video footage captured by neighbours shows one side of the burning tower suddenly disintegrate, crashing to the ground.

The semi-derelict former police headquarters was officially uninhabited, but was reportedly home to an unknown number of squatters, whose status appears to be a matter of confusion.

The Sao Paulo fire department initially said it did not expect any deaths, “despite an earlier message posted onto the department's official Twitter account suggesting that one person had been spotted calling for help on the building's upper floors”, CNN reports.

Hours later, fire department chief Max Mena confirmed that at least one person had died. Emergency services were preparing to rescue the resident, who was on the eighth floor, when part of the building collapsed.

A clip broadcast on a Brazilian news channel purportedly shows the moment the rescue attempt was interrupted by a flood of debris:

At least three other people are missing. Civil defence officials say they believe that up to 50 families were known to occupy the building.

On Twitter, Brazilians said that the tragedy drew attention to the issue of homelessness.

“Squatting is a social problem and needs to be solved at the root,” one wrote.