The death toll from the devastating landslides in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro has continued to rise significantly. The authorities said the number of dead on Friday was at least 136, compared to 117 the day before. The search in the city of Petrópolis for missing people in the rubble of the houses destroyed by the earth masses continued on Friday.
Sirens wailed in Petrópolis on Friday evening (local time) to warn of the risk of new torrential rains. Such massive rains had triggered the disaster on Tuesday. Roads were swept away to raging rivers, houses and cars were swept away or buried by mud.
Head of state Jair Bolsonaro flew over Petrópolis on Friday and visited the disaster zone. The destruction offers a “picture almost like in the war,” he said. The far-right president had just returned to his home country from visits to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Petrópolis is located in the mountains of the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. In the city is the summer residence of the former imperial court of Brazil.
In January 2011, more than 900 people died in the mountain region when heavy rains caused floods and landslides.
Earlier this month, there were landslides and floods in Brazil after heavy rains. 28 people were killed in the state of São Paulo. In the past three months, there have also been heavy rains in the states of Bahia in the north-east and Minas Gerais in the south-east, killing dozens.
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