“It’s a two-story building, with a small tower, and it was in this tower where the façade was detached,” the vice-president of the City Council, Bruno Pereira, responsible for the Civil Protection department, told Lusa news agency.

The building, located between Infância and Ornelas streets, in the centre of Funchal, is unoccupied, with part of it having collapsed a few years ago, but 10 foreign citizens lived in the building next door, who were removed as a precaution.

Four other people, residents of two nearby houses, were also temporarily evacuated.

According to Bruno Pereira, the 10 foreign citizens were relocated by their employer, who also owns the building where they lived.

The mayor said that work has already begun to dismantle the tower of the unoccupied building, but the two streets will remain closed to traffic at least until the end of the afternoon.

“At the moment, this is the biggest inconvenience, because Rua da Infância is very important in terms of public transport circulation”, explained Bruno Pereira, highlighting that the city hall intends to “do everything so that today at the end of the afternoon there is a green light to reopen the street and the four residents return to their homes.”