Four arrested after fatal hotel collapse in Argentina

Argentine authorities arrest four people.

Javier Alonso, Minister of Security, Buenos Aires said "The judge confirmed the arrest of four people for manslaughter. We are advancing in the investigation with the architects responsible for the previous works and the current works. They are architects and contractors, we are analyzing all this and we proceeded to arrest them."

The detained individuals, including a foreman and three workers, were reportedly involved in renovating the building before its collapse.

The prosecutor's office also is scrutinizing the potential liability of two architects supervising the renovation work.

A 10-storey hotel collapsed in Argentina, leaving one person dead and seven still trapped in the debris.

Firefighters searching for survivors rescued a woman from the rubble of the Dubrovnik Hotel in Villa Gesell, a coastal city 350 km south of the capital Buenos Aires.

The building collapsed in the early hours of Tuesday, local officials said.

Among those suspected to be trapped are workers from a construction site allegedly operating without municipal permits at the Dubrovnik hotel, according to reports.

More than 300 firefighters, police and other rescue officials were at the scene, in a rescue operation already ongoing for more than eight hours, online outlet Infobae reported, citing the city’s mayor Gustavo Barrera as warning that the adjacent building is also at risk of collapse.

Local officials alleged that they had detected and halted unauthorized construction work that was being carried out inside the building without proper clearance back in August.

A prosecutor has opened an investigation to determine the cause of the collapse, but Villa Gesell’s municipality said in a press release that the hotel was undergoing a renovation without the proper permits.