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Firefighters have launched a desperate search for survivors after a tower block in Sao Paulo, Brazil caught fire and collapsed, leaving at least one person dead.

Witnesses looked on in horror as the 26-storey building came down in a massive fireball after trapped residents were seen on the top floor calling for help.

Others were forced to jump from upper floors in a desperate bid to escape as the inferno consumed the tower which was illegally occupied by dozens of families with young children.

A man died while he was moments from being rescued, at least three other people were feared dead in the smouldering rubble and a number of firefighters were injured during the collapse.

(Image: @orichardpaiva/Twitter)

(Image: Twitter) (Image: globo.com) (Image: Twitter)

TV footage showed the horrifying moment the man died as a firefighter atop a neighbouring building tried to pull him to safety with a rope.

The man, clinging to the burning tower, was just seconds from being saved when the structure suddenly collapsed in a fireball more than an hour after the blaze started.

The firefighter escaped with injuries.

Local shopkeepers and workers told the Estadao newspaper that the former Federal Police headquarters was occupied by groups of homeless people.

The fire broke out as residents were woken up by a loud explosion. About 150 people lived in the lower 10 floors, local media reported.

(Image: Twitter)

(Image: Twitter)

(Image: Twitter)

Parents who made it out alive told how they grabbed their children and ran for their lives after waking to find the building filled with flames and smoke.

Flabio Gabia, a receptionist at a nearby hotel which was evacuated, said: "When I went to see what it was, the streets were filled with desperate people. I heard several people shouting."

Victor Hinckel, who lives in an apartment building nearby, said he saw people jump from burning floors to escape the inferno.

Mr Hinckel told Globo: "I had come home and I was getting ready to take a shower when my neighbour came and told us to go downstairs.

"When we got downstairs ... people were jumping, very sad."

(Image: @orichardpaiva/Twitter)

(Image: globo.com)

(Image: Twitter) (Image: Google)

The fire department confirmed residents were trapped and some were seen calling for help on the top floor before the tower block collapsed in the early hours of Tuesday.

Harrowing footage posted on social media showed the building's collapse as flames were visible on almost every floor and a huge cloud of black smoke billowed into the sky.

The military and a Civil Defence response team have been called in to assist more than 170 firefighters at the site in the Largo do Paissandu district.

It was believed the fire started on the sixth floor and then spread rapidly to the upper levels, trapping people inside as the inferno gutted and weakened the derelict structure.

Flames also spread to at least one neighbouring building which had to be evacuated along with other structures in the area.

(Image: @orichardpaiva/Twitter)

The second building that caught fire was not in danger of collapsing, the fire department said.

But a neighbouring Lutheran church, which opened 110 years ago, was destroyed by falling debris.

Pastor Frederick Ludwig said for years he had warned the city of Sao Paulo about deplorable conditions inside the old Federal Police building.

He told the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper: "There was sewage in the open air in there as well as outbreaks of the dengue mosquito."

The cause of the fire, which broke out around 1.30am local time, is under investigation.

The deadly blaze has drawn comparisons online to the Grenfell Tower tragedy in west London. The inferno in Kensington in June last year left 71 people dead.