Death toll in Rio buildings collapse climbs to 17

Rescue teams recovered three more bodies between the rubble of the three buildings that collapsed in Rio de Janeiro en Wednesday and thus the total amount of victims reached 17, sources said.

Despite the falling rain, dozens of firefighters continued to search among the rubble of the three collapsed buildings, in hopes of recovering at least five more bodies of disappeared people.

The possibility of finding survivors has already been discarded. According to the source, of the 17 recovered bodies, eight are male and 6 female, and three remain unidentified.

There is no timeline set to end the rescue procedures, but emergency rescue team said it could en Saturday night if everything goes well.

The buildings, one 20 floors high, collapsed in a cloud of dust behind the city's 100-year-old Belle Epoque-style Municipal Theater. They housed offices that had mostly closed for the day and few people were on the normally busy street at the time.