The death toll from devastating mudslides and floods that swept through a mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro state has reached 58, local authorities said Wednesday. …
The death toll from devastating mudslides and floods that swept through a mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro state has reached 58, local authorities said Wednesday. The city of Petropolis was slammed by a deluge on Tuesday, and Mayor Rubens Bomtempo said the number of dead could rise as searchers pick through the wreckage. Twenty-one people had been recovered alive. Civilians joined the official recovery efforts early Wednesday. Among them were Priscila Neves and her siblings, who looked through the mud for any sign of their disappeared parents, but found only clothing. Neves told The Associated Press she had given up hope of finding her parents alive. And Rosilene Virgilio,49, was in tears as she recalled the desperate pleas from someone she couldn’t save. “There was a woman screaming, ‘Help! Get me out of here!’ But we couldn’t do anything; the water was gushing out, the mud was gushing out,” Virgilio told The Associated Press. “Our city unfortunately is finished.” Petropolis is a German-influenced city named for a former Brazilian emperor. Nestled in the mountains above the coastal metropolis, for almost two centuries it has been a refuge for people escaping summer heat and tourists keen to explore the so-called “Imperial City.
