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On the morning of 1 February 1974, a fire tore through a 25-story office tower in downtown São Paulo and killed nearly 180 people. Thirteen of the dead were never identified. Their shared graves became the center of one of Brazil's best-known ghost stories.
The Real History
Edifício Joelma, today officially named Edifício Praça da Bandeira, was completed in 1971 at Avenida 9 de Julho, 225, in central São Paulo. Most of its occupants worked for Banco Crefisul.
At about 8:50 a.m. on 1 February 1974, a short circuit in an air-conditioning unit on the 12th floor started a fire. The unit had reportedly been wired around the floor's electrical panel because the proper circuit breaker was unavailable at installation. Partitions, furniture, curtains and ceiling materials fed the flames, and the fire climbed the single stairwell to the upper floors. The building had no emergency exits, alarms or sprinklers of the kind required today.
About 756 people were inside. Reported death tolls vary by source, from 179 to 189, with more than 300 injured. People trapped on the upper floors had no way down; some climbed to the roof, where helicopters rescued a small number, and some died after jumping or trying to lower themselves on improvised ropes.
Thirteen victims who died in an elevator were burned beyond identification. They were buried side by side in São Pedro Cemetery in Vila Alpina, in São Paulo's east zone. These graves, not the building, are the source of the “13 souls” (Treze Almas) legend.
The disaster came less than two years after the Andraus Building fire in the same city, in February 1972. Joelma is often cited as the deadliest high-rise fire in history before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. It pushed São Paulo to adopt much stricter fire-safety rules over the following years, and in a 2013 inspection reported by Folha de S.Paulo the renovated Joelma exceeded current fire codes. The building reopened after roughly four years of reconstruction under its new name, though locals still call it the Joelma.
The Haunting
The best-known story attaches to the cemetery. According to popular accounts, caretakers at São Pedro reported hearing cries from the 13 graves within a few years of the burials. One caretaker is said to have poured water on the graves to quiet them, and visitors began leaving glasses of water instead of flowers, a gesture believed to ease the thirst of people who died by fire. The graves became a pilgrimage site where believers leave notes and requests to the Treze Almas, whom some regard as miracle-working souls.
The building has its own lore. Former workers and locals describe unease on the upper floors and cold drafts in the stairwells, and some speak of footsteps or shadowy figures near the high windows, especially around the February anniversary. Some retellings also link the site to an earlier crime: before the tower was built, the lot was the scene of a notorious 1948 murder known as the “Crime do Poço” (the Well Crime). None of these paranormal claims has been investigated or verified. They follow a pattern seen at many disaster sites, where a documented tragedy attracts ghost stories.
Can You Visit?
The building, now called Edifício Praça da Bandeira, is a working office tower and is not open for tours. It can be seen from the street on Avenida 9 de Julho, but interior access is limited to people with business inside. The 13 graves at São Pedro Cemetery in Vila Alpina are publicly accessible during cemetery hours; visitors should behave as they would at any active cemetery.
Related: More South American folklore and urban legends.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people died in the Joelma Building fire?
Sources give between 179 and 189 deaths, with more than 300 injured, in the fire of 1 February 1974.
Who are the 13 souls of the Joelma?
Thirteen victims who died in an elevator and could never be identified. They are buried together at São Pedro Cemetery in Vila Alpina, where visitors leave glasses of water on their graves.
Is the Joelma Building still standing today?
Yes. It was rebuilt after the fire and still operates as an office building under the official name Edifício Praça da Bandeira.
Sources
- Os 50 anos do incêndio no Edifício Joelma – Câmara Municipal de São Paulo
- 50 anos da tragédia do Edifício Joelma – O Setor Elétrico
- Joelma Building – Wikipedia
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