In a desperate effort against time to try to find the victims of the collapse of the Apart Hotel Dubrovnik, in Villa Gesell, Argentina — where only one woman was found alive and her husband dead, the only confirmed death so far —, The firefighters noticed at a point in the tragedy zone, under the rubble, a sign that would indicate that something or someone is present.
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— During the night, there was a sign showing something thirty feet underground. The machine marks that there is a person, but we are not 100% sure if there is. It is a system that detects a pulse in the same place where the dogs detected something. That’s where the most rubble is – said Hugo Piris, head of the Villa Gesell Volunteer Fire Department, in an interview with the TN news channel.
The person responsible for the operation explained that work was carried out on the site early in the morning, removing pieces of the slab from the collapsed building.
— The big ones are harvested with the crane and the small ones are harvested by hand. We have made a lot of progress, but there is a lot of rubble, we still have to get to where the person is. We have to do it firmly and safely, we can’t do it as fast as we want — he said.
Piris mentioned that there are about seven or nine of them who were missing under the rubble, between the Apart Hotel and the apartments on the left, where the Dubrovnik tower fell.
The operation continued throughout the night and will continue next Wednesday with the idea of continuing to remove the rubble and thus find the buried ones. More than 200 firefighters and rescuers are taking part in the manual task of removing the remains of destroyed property, with the aim of finding any of the missing people.
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A ten-story building collapsed in a tourist town in Argentina – Photo: ReproducedFirefighters managed to identify three of the seven people who were missing. According to information from sources in the case, they are: Nahuel José Stefnic, 25 years old, from Villa Gesell; Matías Chaspman, 27 years old, from the city of Batán; and Mariano Troiano, from Mar del Plata, 46 years old.
Hours after the disaster, rescuers found a few. An 89-year-old man was dead, and his wife was rescued alive and taken by helicopter to Mar del Plata, where she is recovering from her injuries.
Lighting towers were incorporated for the early morning work, and Buenos Aires Security Minister Javier Alonso said at the scene: “We are not going to leave here until we remove the last stone from the rubble.” The state official also showed that they are working on the case: “The objective is to rescue the people arrested, but we are documenting everything and gathering evidence so that there is no punishment.”
How is work at the collapsed site?
The task of the last few hours has been to remove the rubble from the site of the fall. This is done manually, which requires a lot of personnel and time, according to the Federation of Voluntary Associations of Firefighters of Buenos Aires (Fabvpb). In addition, they are collaborating with heavy machinery (cranes) to remove pieces of greater volume and weight.
A specific tool is being used for this type of rescue, a heartbeat search probe that detected movements around eight meters below the rubble. The analysis of the area was carried out after dogs from the Fabvpb K9 Brigade indicated the location on several occasions.
ARG 13 USAR Brigades, specialized in collapsed structures, and this Federal Puma Brigade work together with rescuers from the Federal Police, Police Firefighters, the Ministry of Security and Civil Defense. 186 members of the Federation of Voluntary Associations of Fire Fighters of the Province of Buenos Aires are involved in this intervention, and in total, there are more than 300 specialists in different fields, such as doctors, nurses, ambulances and psychologists, who work to provide care and support supply. for the families of the victims.
The recent building collapse in a tourist town in Argentina has resulted in a significant rescue operation, involving over 200 firefighters and rescuers working tirelessly to clear rubble and search for missing individuals. The operation continues into the night and is scheduled to persist as long as necessary to locate those trapped beneath the debris.
As of now, three out of seven missing persons have been identified, including Nahuel José Stefnic, 25, from Villa Gesell; Matías Chaspman, 27, from Batán; and Mariano Troiano, 46, from Mar del Plata. Sadly, an 89-year-old man was found deceased, while his wife was rescued alive and is currently recovering in a Mar del Plata hospital.
The rescue efforts include the use of lighting towers to facilitate work during nighttime hours. Buenos Aires Security Minister Javier Alonso has emphasized the commitment to the mission by stating that they will not leave the site until every last stone has been removed. Authorities are also focusing on documenting the operation to ensure accountability and gather evidence for any potential legal repercussions related to the incident.
The manual removal of rubble is a labor-intensive process, necessitating a substantial workforce and considerable time, as confirmed by the Federation of Voluntary Associations involved in the operation. Further updates will depend on the progress of the rescue efforts and any additional findings in the debris.