A 22-storey abandoned office building occupied by hundreds of squatters was engulfed in flames and collapsed in the center of Sao Paulo on Tuesday, shooting a massive black cloud of smoke into the sky and red-hot chunks of debris into nearby structures.

At least one person died and three others were missing, a fire department spokesman said. According to authorities, 400 people lived in the building, which belonged to the government.

The cause of the fire was not known.

Live television images showed a firefighter on an adjacent rooftop talking to a man clinging to a rescue rope and trying to escape from the upper part of the burning building.

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