At least 14 killed, including 7 children, after floods in landslides in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state
By Rodrigo Pedroso, CNN
At least 14 people were killed, including seven children, after days of heavy rains triggered flooding and landslides in the southeastern Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, the State Civil Defense told CNN Saturday.
Rain showers began Thursday, leading to deadly landslides in the region. The volume of rain registered in the last 48 hours was the highest on record in Angra dos Reis, according to the city’s municipal government.
Officials told affiliate CNN Brazil on Saturday that a landslide in the town of Paraty killed at least eight people — a father and seven of his children — ages 2 to 17. A seventh child was rescued and transported to a hospital, municipal officials told the affiliate.
At least four other people were injured — none seriously — after seven houses were hit by landslides in the coastal community of Ponta Negra, according to officials in Paraty. More than 22 neighborhoods sustained flooding and 71 families were displaced.
In the municipality of Mesquita, a 38-year-old man was electrocuted to death after three days of heavy rainfall, CNN Brazil reported.
In the city of Angra dos Reis, a 4-year-old girl and a teenager were killed and at least nine people were missing, the affiliate reported, citing civil defense and fire officials. Five people were rescued.
Rio de Janeiro state firefighters and civil defense authorities are deployed in the affected cities to help rescue people. The Civil Defense does not have an estimate on how many people are missing so far.
Brazil’s Interior Development Ministry said that Colonel Alexandre Lucas, the National Secretary for Civil Defense and Protection, is traveling to the regions most affected areas on Saturday.
In early February, at least 24 people were killed and more than 1,500 displaced after the state of São Paulo was battered with heavy rains for days, triggering floods and landslides.
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