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Rescuers dig through shattered homes for survivors after floods and landslides rip through a mountainous region.
13
January 2011 |
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__________________________________________________________________________________________ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12187985 BRAZIL FLOODS TRAUMA - THOUSANDS TRAPPED More than 500 people are now
known to have died in floods in south-eastern Brazil, the country's worst
natural disaster for several decades. Heavy
rain has led to massive mudslides hitting several towns, resulting in thousands
being made homeless. Police
say the number of dead is likely to rise further. The
death toll has now surpassed the devastating 1967 mudslides in Caraguatatuba,
Sao Paulo state, in which up to 430 people perished. 'Thousands
trapped' Rescue
workers will resume searching for survivors in the mountainous Serrana
region, north of Rio de Janeiro, later on Friday. Many
spent Thursday scrabbling with their bare hands through debris. On
her visit to the area, President Dilma Rousseff promised a shipment of seven
tonnes of medicines. In
the Campo Grande area of Teresopolis, which was earlier cut off, rescuers
found people pulling bodies from the mud. In
the neighbouring town of Petropolis, local resident Nelson Toledo told the
BBC that some areas "had been completely devastated" by the floods
and mudslides. He
said "thousands" of people remained trapped in their homes......... |
