Rescuers confirm second fatality from Villa Gesell hotel collapse

Rescuers on Thursday discovered the body of a second victim within the rubble of a collapsed hotel in Villa Gesell, the second fatality from the deadly tragedy on the Atlantic coast.

The victim, identified only as an “elderly woman” named Rosa, is the second confirmed death from collapse of the Hotel Dubrovnik, an apartment hotel that was undergoing unauthorised renovations and collapsed in the middle of Tuesday night. 

"We know from a confirmation made by the family through a photograph of a tattoo she had on her right arm," Buenos Aires Province Security Minister Javier Alonso confirmed at an impromptu press conference on Thursday.

More than 300 rescue workers have been deployed in a desperate operation to reach people still trapped under the rubble of the 10-storey building.

At least six other people remain missing, feared to be still inside the rubble, Alonso added. 

Authorities fear two or three others, who have not been reported, may also be trapped.

Four people have been arrested for "aggravated culpable damage" after the collapse, according to the Buenos Aires provincial government.

"Four people are under arrest for causing aggravated culpable damage … two building workers, a foreman and another person related to the works," Alonso confirmed.

The construction workers under arrest fled moments before the collapse when they heard the building creaking, while the other two implicated went to the hotel after the catastrophe, said the minister.

According to the Argentine Criminal Code, culpable damage carries prison sentences of up to five years, apart from the aggravating factors.

‘Work tirelessly’

Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof, visited the site of the collapse on Wednesday and met with the crisis committee organising the response to the disaster.

"We will continue to work tirelessly until we remove all the rubble, find the victims and establish what caused such a tragedy," he wrote on the X social network.

The Apart Hotel Dubrovnik, founded in 1986 and little over 200 metres away from the nearby beach, collapsed around 1am on Tuesday.

Three of the 10 floors of the complex fell on a neighbouring building, killing a man aged over 80 and injuring his 79-year-old wife, who was transferred to hospital.

"The hotel imploded, it fell on itself and the last three floors tilted and crushed 25 percent of the building that was next door," explained Alonso.

Rescue workers are using dogs, drones, and sonar equipment, probing with cameras and microphones, as well as a crane to remove walls, slabs and beams. 

The Villa Gesell municipal government said that work was being carried out at the hotel "clandestinely." 

The local press published a document, dated August 20, in which the municipality ordered the hotel owners, after an inspection, "to paralyse immediately" all work on the building.

Villa Gesell is a seaside resort town of some 40,000 inhabitants located on the Atlantic coast, mainly dedicated to tourism.

– TIMES/AFP/NA