Incredible pictures show devastated slum after roaring blaze razes slum to the ground
The Sao Paulo slum was left a scorched wasteland after the blaze swept through through family homes
THESE jaw-dropping pictures show the devastation caused after a roaring blaze that swept through a poverty-stricken Brazilian slum.
The fire gutted the Estrada de Alpina favela in the country's most populous city of Sao Paulo, destroying hundreds of homes in its path.
The favela is thought to contain about 500 homes and, according to local media, more than 30 firefighters were called in to battle the blaze.
No reports of loss of life, injuries or what caused the fire have been released.
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Many of Brazil's poorest residents live in favelas, or urban slums, which are riddled with drugs and crime.
Census data released in December 2011 by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics showed that about six percent of the Brazilian population lived in slums.
Because of crowding, unsanitary conditions, poor nutrition and pollution, disease is rampant in the poorer favelas and infant mortality rates are high.
Two weeks ago an early morning fire was reported in the Brasilândia region, north of Sao Paulo. Despite the scale of the blaze, no one was injured.
City authorities sent safety inspectors to assess homes in the community.