Brazil death toll from floods, mudslides rises to 64

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Rescue crews yesterday  intensified the search for victims at a plush Brazilian beach  resort ravaged by mudslides and flooding that have killed at  least 64 people in three states.

Firefighters waded through mountains of mud and sifted  through the remains of a lodge and homes that were destroyed in  the early hours of Friday when a hillside collapsed in the  luxury beach resort of Angra dos Reis, removing 35 bodies,  authorities said.

Angra dos Reis, the nearby island of Ilha Grande and other  towns on the southern coast of Rio de Janeiro state are a  magnet for local and foreign tourists over the New Year’s  holiday.

Heavy rain also left several cities without power in the  state of Sao Paulo, where six tourists died in a mudslide in  the town of Cunha.

At least three people died because of mudslides in Juiz de  Fora, a city in Minas Gerais state.

In Rio de Janeiro state, where Brazil has most of its oil  reserves and has long been the nation’s flagship tourist  destination, the death toll climbed to 55, authorities said.

“The weather is improving, which helps us with the search,  but we won’t rest as long as we suspect that there are more  bodies underneath the remains,” said Colonel Jerri Andrade of  Angra’s firefighters corps and who is overseeing the search.

Television footage showed the Sankay lodge and surrounding  homes in Angra buried under a mountain of reddish-brown mud.  Access to the area, known as Praia do Bananal, remained  difficult as roads and the beach were covered with mud and  trees from the collapsed hillside.

The lodge, which can accommodate up to 50 people, was  reportedly full at the time of the disaster. Victims included  the 18-year-old daughter of the lodge’s owners, according to O  Estado de S. Paulo newspaper.

So far, there have been no reports of any foreign victims.

Earlier in the day, rainfall subsided and rescue teams,  aided by helicopters and navy vessels, managed to reach the  area to remove more bodies, Andrade said.

Despite the break in the weather, heavy rains are forecast  for the coming days, which could make rescue work harder and  trigger more mudslides, authorities said.
One state that could  be hit by a lengthy downpour is Parana in Brazil’s south, O  Globo newspaper reported yesterday.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pledged federal  assistance to Rio state Governor Sergio Cabral, who flew over  the region early yesterday to assess the damage.