World

Possible gas explosion and fire in Sao Paulo kills one

May 12, 2026 12:30 pm

[Source: Reuters]

A fire set off ‌by a potential gas explosion killed one person in Brazil’s biggest city Sao Paulo on Monday, while also damaging around ​10 homes and leaving three people injured, ​the local fire department said.

Images from local media ⁠showed destroyed rooftops and smoke in the Jaguare ​neighborhood, about 16 km (10 miles) from Sao Paulo’s city ​center.

The Sao Paulo state fire department said in a post on X that it had deployed 12 fire engines to fight ​the fire, adding that a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) ​blast likely caused the incident.

A spokeswoman for the fire department ‌told ⁠local media that officials had found a fatal male victim under the rubble. Two men and a woman were rescued with minor injuries, she added.

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“Several buildings ​were hit. We ​don’t have ⁠the exact number, but we believe that around 10 were directly hit,” she ​said.

Firefighters at the scene were looking for ​any ⁠other victims.

“I couldn’t find my dog,” one resident said. “I was thrown out. It was me, my son, and ⁠my ​dog. My house exploded.”