Brazil floods: The 14 casualties included eight children, authorities said
RIO DE JANEIRO, April 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Heavy rains caused mudslides that killed at least 14 people including eight children in southern coastal cities and the Baixada Fluminense area of Rio de Janeiro state, according to state and local authorities.
The victims included a mother and six of her children, who were buried when a landslide swept away their home, officials said.
A seventh child was rescued alive and taken to the hospital, where he was in stable condition, they said.
Another four people were injured.
Six more victims, including at least two children, were killed in the city of Angra dos Reis, where officials declared a “maximum alert” and state of emergency after landslides devastated the Monsuaba neighborhood.
Several people were rescued alive, while another five remain missing, they said.
President Jair Bolsonaro said on Facebook the federal government had sent military aircraft to help the rescue effort and dispatched national disaster response secretary Alexandre Lucas to the state of 17.5 million people.
Rescuers answered 850 calls in the last 24 hours and were able to bring 144 people to safety in the affected regions, state authorities said.
Rio de Janeiro has been hit by inclement weather over the past few weeks. Landslides and flooding in February killed some 240 people in the Petropolis area, in the hills above Rio de Janeiro, authorities said on March 23.
“We have more than 70 homeless families. We are providing shelters and renting hostels for these people,” Luciano Vidal, the mayor of Paraty, said.
He said mudslides blocked streets and isolated parts of the city, and entire neighbourhoods were without electricity in the colonial coastal town that is a tourist attraction.
In one day, Paraty received 322mm of rain, the rainfall average for six months. At least seven people died there, Vidal said. The civil defence statement only confirmed five deaths in Paraty.
The town, a tourist destination, declared a state of emergency as more rains were forecast.
In nearby Angra dos Reis, also a tourist destination hit by heavy rainfall, at least six people died, the latest state tally showed. — NNN-AGENCIES
