Floods kill scores in Brazil

Floods and mudslides in Brazil have killed at least 76 people, including dozens buried when a hillside collapsed on a luxury beach resort.

Heavy rain caused mudslides and flooding in Brazil. Photograph: KPA/Zuma / Rex Features

Heavy rain caused mudslides and flooding in Brazil. Photograph: KPA/Zuma / Rex Features

Emergency crews yesterday used heavy equipment, shovels and bare hands to recover bodies from devastated parts of Rio de Janeiro state and two neighbouring states following days of torrential rain.

Amid warnings of more heavy rain authorities advised tourists to leave Ilha Grande, a resort island, and Angra dos Reis, a mainland port city. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva interrupted his vacation for an emergency meeting with civil defence officials.

Rio de Janeiro’s vice governor, Luiz Fernando Pezao, told Globo TV the death toll could rise. “People had never seen so much rain in this region. We’ll have to wait for the rescue efforts, but we’ll likely encounter a very sad outcome.” Nearly 80 mudslides have been reported throughout south-east Brazil in the past week.

Among the worst hit was Ilha Grande, a former pirates’ lair and leper colony which is now an upscale retreat boasting pristine rainforest and tropical beaches. At least 26 people died in the early hours of new year’s day when a wall of mud and rock swept Pousada Sankay, a guesthouse, and three neighbouring houses into the Atlantic.

Guests had just retired to their rooms following end of year celebrations when a reported 1000ft wide cascade hit. The 18-year-old daughter of the couple who built the waterfront lodge at the foot of a cliff was among the victims. Her parents survived. Authorities said no foreigners were known to have died.

“We came to celebrate the new year and then all this sadness happened,” Fernanda de Oliveira, a witness, told the O Globo newspaper. “We couldn’t see what was happening. It was raining hard and the water was leaking into our house. Suddenly, we saw people in the sea and we went down to rescue them. They were people staying in the pousada.”

Wooden debris from the lodge floated near the shore. The hotel, which advertises nightly rates of about $200 and can accommodate 50 guests, was reportedly full.

Television pictures showed about a 120-strong emergency team scouring through mud and toppled trees for survivors and corpses. Police helicopters and navy vessels helped in the search.

Around the same time a separate mudslide hit the Carioca slum in Angra dos Reis, killing at least 13 people and splintering wooden shacks. The bodies were laid out in coffins in a school gymnasium.

Firefighters in Minas Gerais state said three elderly people died when a mudslide hit their home, the state-run Agencia Estado reported.

Six people from the same family were missing after a mudslide hit their house in the town of Cunha in Sao Paulo state, authorities said.

Morgue authorities in Rio de Janeiro said all identified victims were Brazilian. They warned the death toll might double because many people remain missing.

Popularity: 1% [?]