National tragedy in Brazil. The death toll from floods and landslides that wreaked havoc in Petropolis, southeastern Brazil, following torrential rains, reached 165 deadaccording to the latest data announced by the authorities yesterday Sunday.
At the same time, severe weather conditions have claimed the lives of at least two people, the emergency services announced in the state of Espirito Santo, which is adjacent to that of Rio de Janeiro, where Petropolis is located.
A man was killed when he was crushed by a wall in the city of Allegre. Another man was swept away by a torrent as he tried to save a car in the city of Nova Venezia.
Rescue crews and residents continued to search for the missing yesterday, digging huge volumes of mud and debris in the 300,000-strong city of Petropolis, where President Zaich Bolsonaru said what he saw was similar to a “war theater”.
The number of missing has decreased as some of the bodies recovered have been identified, while families have located their own alive, according to police. However, the final toll remains uncertain – while the death toll continues to rise.
Authorities now consider it unlikely to be found survivors in the mountains of mud and debris.
As of yesterday, 124 bodies had been identified, among them 28 children.
There are more than 1,200 residents of Petropolis who have been forced to flee their homes.
Torrential rains that fell last Tuesday in the mountain town of 300,000, about 60 kilometers north of Rio de Janeiro, turned its roads into torrents and caused catastrophic landslides. In six hours, it rained in Petropolis, which had a volume approximately equal to that of the precipitation of the whole of February according to the historical average.
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