The couple and their 14-year-old daughter felt they had no option but to join a group of squatters living in an abandoned building downtown. The fire has put a renewed spotlight on a controversial movement of housing groups that have taken over dozens of abandoned buildings in South America’s largest city. City Housing Secretary Fernando Chucre noted that people who collect items for recycling were storing flammable material in the lower stories of the Wilton Paes de Almeida building. The Federal University of Sao Paulo also said a report it commissioned in 2013 when it was considering taking over the building found structural problems. In the past, the city has purchased some occupied buildings and plans to turn them into subsidized housing.

Source: National Post May 08, 2018 03:56 UTC