Death toll rises, families await word on missing in Rio buildings collapse EST Thursday: RIO DE JANEIRO -- Rescuers pulled at least six bodies from the rubble of three buildings that suddenly collapsed, the Rio de Janeiro morgue said Thursday. At least 16 people remained missing as smoke from small fires drifted above the wreckage, The Associated Press reported. Authorities speculated that illegal construction work damaged the structure of a 20-story building and caused it to crumble, bringing down two other office buildings alongside at about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. Rescue crews, aided by specially trained dogs, dug through tons of brick and twisted metal. "We have hopes of finding people alive," said Moises Torres, a spokesman with the Fire Department. According to the institution responsible for approving construction in Rio, unauthorized construction projects were under way in the building. The head of the accident prevention unit of Rio's Regional Council of Engineering, Luiz Cosenza, told the Globo television network that illegal projects could have led to the collapse. "Two projects were happening in the building," said Cosenza. They were illegal works; they were not registered with the council. He didn't provide details but said the work was not being supervised by any registered professional. Hoping for news A janitor finishing up the day's work was among six injured extracted by rescue crews from the heap of bricks, metal and glass. An accountant closing the books for the month and a computer technician installing software were among the missing. Their friends or relatives took shelter from the scorching sun in a nearby building, hoping for news. Francisco Adir was trying to get information about a friend, Flavio Porrozi, 23, who had been attending a computer course in the largest of the three buildings. We think he's alive. At 3 a.m. he managed to call his girlfriend and say, 'Hello, love,' before his phone went dead," Adir said. The rescuers haven't given us any information, but the family is hanging all their hopes on that phone call. Five of the six bodies pulled out have been identified in the city morgue, and Porrozi is not among them. As the hours ticked by, relatives of the missing tried to keep despair at bay. "We last heard from him at 8 p.m. when he called his wife to say he wouldn't be much longer," said Luis Cesar Vasconcelos, whose brother, computer technician Luis Leandro Vasconcelos, remained trapped in the debris. Since then, there's been no sign of him, but the family is hopeful to the end. The state's governor, Sergio Cabral, issued a statement saying the government was doing all it could to support the families of the victims. "We're still living a moment of shock," he said. There is still hope of finding survivors, and in a last instance, of rescuing bodies. Rescue crews are searching for victims in Rio de Janeiro's downtown district after a building collapsed leaving at least three people dead and dozens missing. Updated at 1:40 p.m. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Three bodies were pulled from the rubble of three collapsed buildings on Thursday, an official with the Rio de Janeiro Fire Department said. Another 21 people were still missing after the buildings went down in the city's historic center, The Associated Press reported. Mayor Eduardo Paes said a structural problem may have caused a building of about 20 stories to collapse at about 8:30 p.m., and that apparently caused the collapse of two smaller buildings nearby. Officials were still investigating the causes, however. In addition to the dead and missing, at least six other people were treated for injuries caused by the accident, which left rubble and thick dust strewn over a wide area near Rio's famed Teatro Municipal and the Fine Arts Museum. One of those pulled out alive was Marcelo Moreira, a janitor in an eight-story building that fell. "He stayed behind to finish a little bit of work," said Rosalvo Alves, the building's main doorman, who had spent the night in a local hospital with his friend. We shut down at 8. I left, and he was supposed to come too. Now this; he's hurt, our jobs are gone, everything is gone. Alves worked in the building for 38 years, and said he had never noticed any problems.