SAO PAULO (Reuters) – At least 10 people were killed in southern Brazil by landslides and other accidents caused by heavy rains, emergency workers said yesterday.
Eight were killed in landslides that engulfed homes in the towns of Igrejinha and Novo Harmburgo in the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, including three children who were asleep when a tide of mud hit their home.
A man was electrocuted by power lines knocked down by the rainstorm in Sapucaia do Sul and a farmer was killed when a shed collapsed on him.
Rescue workers were searching for two missing people believed to have been buried in Igrejinha and were evacuating areas at greatest risk of mudslides.
Flooding was reported near the state capital Porto Alegre.
In January, floods and landslides devastated a mountainous region near Rio de Janeiro and killed more than 800 people in Brazil’s second-worst natural disaster.
