The Rescue teams continued to pull bodies out of the mud Saturday after the devastating landslides. that caused the rains in the Brazilian city of Petropoliswith a balance of at least 136 deaths, including 26 children.
In the midst of a dense fog, rescuers search for bodies and possible survivors for the fifth day in the rubble and mud.
An AFP photographer confirmed the transfer of twos corpses bagged in Alto da Serra, a neighborhood badly affected by the catastrophe, while relatives sobbed in the street.
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In the heart of the disaster zone, rescuers occasionally blow their whistles for silence and to listen for signs of life.
But authorities warn there is little hope of finding survivors of torrential rains on Tuesdaywhich turned the streets of this picturesque city in the mountains of the state of Rio de Janeiro into mighty rivers.
The rains triggered landslides in slums on the hillsides, sweeping away virtually everything in their path.
The authorities reported the rescue of 24 people alive, but this was mainly in the first hours after the tragedy.
Rio de Janeiro state police said as of Friday night there were 218 people missing.
Meanwhile, 91 of the 136 bodies recovered so far have been identified.
Many of the missing may be among the still unidentified bodies. But the numbers have been confusing and it’s hard to know how high the death toll could be.
The dead include 26 minors, police said.
President Jair Bolsonaro, who flew over the disaster area in a helicopter on Friday, said Petrópolis suffered “intense destruction, an image almost of war.”
Tuesday’s was the latest in a series of deadly storms that have hit Brazil in the last three months and that experts say are worsening with climate change.
The heavy rains left at least 188 dead, mainly in the state of Sao Paulo (southeast) and in the state of Bahia (northeast), as well as in Petrópolis.
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