Wednesday 4 January 2012

Death toll mounts in Brazil floods

Two more people died and one was missing Monday following flooding in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais that brought the total death toll to four, civil defense officials said.

A 38-year-old man died in the state capital, Belo Horizonte, when his two-story house collapsed in the flooding while his wife was rescued from the rubble, they said.

Also found dead in the courtyard of her house in the town of Visconde do Rio Branco was a 78-year-old woman.

A third person, a 74-year-old woman, was meanwhile reported missing in Santo Antonio do Rio Abaixo.

Officials say 32 people have been injured over the past few days and 9,365 had to flee their homes while 46 municipalities have been declared to be in a state of emergency.

Two adults, a man and a woman, were killed in the floods last Tuesday.

The heavy rain has affected some two million people living in the area, officials said.

Meanwhile in Rio de Janeiro state, a state of maximum alert remained in effect in flood-hit Nova Friburgo and other localities, but authorities reported no casualties.

Source : Sapa/George Herald

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