Brazil: São Paulo Building Collapse Kills Six in Penha
BRAZIL · SAO PAULO
Key Facts
- —What happened A building under construction fell onto a house in Penha, eastern São Paulo, on September 12, 2026.
- —How big The fire service reported six dead and two people rescued alive before ending its search on September 13.
- —What it means The case has raised questions about how the city inspects and licenses building sites.
- —The catch No cause has been established and nobody has been charged. The defence calls the custody orders premature.
- —Who it hits People in the house that was struck, and neighbours in a working-class part of the east zone.
- —What comes next A forensic report and two parallel inquiries will decide whether anyone is charged.
The São Paulo building collapse in Penha killed six people and led to three temporary custody orders. Heavy rain hit the wider region over the same weekend, in a separate set of events.
A São Paulo building collapse in the eastern district of Penha killed six people, Brazil’s fire service said. The building was under construction and fell onto a house below.
What happened in Penha
A building under construction fell onto a house on Rua Tequici, in Penha, in São Paulo’s east zone. It came down at about 2am on Saturday, September 12, 2026.
Neighbours said they heard a loud bang before the building came down. Fire crews sent 58 firefighters and 21 vehicles to the site that morning.
State civil defence, the public body that handles emergencies, put the building at 12 floors. Some early reports described it as nine to eleven floors.
The death toll rose through the weekend as crews worked. The fire service ended its search on the afternoon of Sunday, September 13.
It reported six dead and two people rescued alive. No one was still listed as missing when the search closed.
The arrests and what the defence says
A court ordered the temporary custody of three people linked to the work, the news site G1 reported. Police carried out one of those orders on Sunday, September 13.
Temporary custody in Brazil, known as prisao temporaria, lets police hold a suspect for a set period. It is not a charge and not a conviction.
Police say the man held, Ronaldo Vivacqua, was a hidden partner in one of the firms behind the site. A hidden partner helps run a company without appearing in its records.
He denied any link to the building firm in a first police interview, G1 reported. The lawyer for the companies said he held no management role and was not a hidden partner.
The defence called the custody orders premature and said it would ask a judge to lift them. Two other people named in the orders have not been found, police said.
What investigators say about the cause
Police say the cause has not been determined. Any conclusion will depend on an engineering report from the state forensic police.
Civil defence said the collapse could not be blamed on the overnight rain alone at this stage. It inspected the area and closed off a neighbouring property.
The builder, New Home Construtora, said it had opened an internal review. It said nothing so far showed the cause lay only with the company.
The firm pointed to earth-moving work on a neighbouring plot and said that would also be examined. No authority has assessed that claim.
Police are also checking whether those in charge knew of problems before the fall. Neighbours told investigators that the house which was hit had cracks.
What the permit record shows
City hall says it went to court in 2021 to have an irregular building on the site demolished. A judge ordered the work to stop.
The city says a new project was filed in 2022 and an execution permit was issued in 2023. That permit required the earlier building to be torn down first.
A city inspection in February 2024 confirmed that demolition, and the court case was then closed. City hall says a permit from August 2023 is still on file.
Some Brazilian broadcasters said the work was under an embargo, and the company rejected that. Our earlier report set out the enforcement record.
The storms over the same weekend
Heavy rain hit São Paulo and the wider metropolitan area from Thursday, September 10, to Saturday, September 12. Streets flooded, trees fell and homes were damaged.
The news site Poder360 reported at least eight deaths in Greater São Paulo over that period. One person was reported missing.
It is not clear whether that count includes the six people who died in Penha. The two figures should not simply be added together.
Civil defence has not tied the Penha site to the storms. CNN Brasil reported that no deaths there had been officially linked to the rain.
Flooding returns to the city whenever heavy rain arrives. The Rio Times has covered past storm damage in the city.
The city review and the licensing law
The city has opened a review of its own inspection work at the site. The municipal comptroller’s office, the Controladoria-Geral do Municipio, is running it.
That review looks at how inspectors handled the project before it fell. City hall has not said whether any official will face action.
Separately, a city law passed in December 2025 lets builders self-declare permits for works up to 1,500 square metres. The Penha project was far larger than that.
State prosecutors opened a procedure into how that law passed, after a complaint by municipal engineers and architects. Supporters say it cuts paperwork for small projects.
What comes next
The forensic report on the debris should show what brought the building down. That work can take weeks.
The police inquiry and the city review are running on separate tracks. Either could lead to charges or to disciplinary steps.
No one has been charged so far. Temporary custody runs for a fixed period unless a judge extends it.
The Rio Times will update this story when investigators publish their findings. Until then, the cause remains officially unknown.
More: Brazil news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people died in the São Paulo building collapse?
Six people died, the fire service said. Two others were rescued alive, and the search ended on September 13.
Who was arrested after the Penha building collapse?
A court ordered temporary custody for three people linked to the work. Police carried out one of those orders on September 13.
What caused the building to collapse in São Paulo?
Police say the cause has not been determined. Civil defence said the overnight rain alone could not explain it at this stage.
Where exactly did the building collapse happen?
On Rua Tequici, in Penha, in the east zone of São Paulo, Brazil. The building fell onto a house below.
Sources: Reporting from G1, Folha de S.Paulo, InfoMoney, CNN Brasil and Poder360. Full articles: https://g1.globo.com/sp/sao-paulo/noticia/2026/09/13/policia-prende-homem-apontado-como-socio-oculto-de-empresa-responsavel-por-predio-que-desabou-e-matou-6-em-sp.ghtml , https://g1.globo.com/sp/sao-paulo/noticia/2026/09/12/obra-que-desabou-na-zona-leste-de-sp-ja-foi-alvo-de-acao-judicial-da-prefeitura.ghtml , https://g1.globo.com/sp/sao-paulo/noticia/2026/09/13/prefeitura-abre-apuracao-sobre-fiscalizacao-de-obra-que-desabou-e-deixou-vitimas-na-zona-leste-de-sp.ghtml , https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/cotidiano/2026/09/justica-determina-prisao-temporaria-de-donos-do-predio-que-desabou-na-zona-leste-de-sp.shtml , https://www.infomoney.com.br/brasil/sp-mortos-em-desabamento-e-chuva-12-setembro-2026/ , https://www.poder360.com.br/poder-brasil/chuvas-deixam-ao-menos-8-mortos-na-grande-sao-paulo/ , https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/nacional/sudeste/sp/desabamento-de-predio-deixa-ao-menos-uma-pessoa-morta-na-zona-leste-de-sp/ , https://g1.globo.com/sp/sao-paulo/noticia/2025/12/10/camara-aprova-projeto-de-nunes-que-permite-licenciamento-para-obras-de-ate-1500-m-sem-analise-da-prefeitura.ghtml
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