Murders in . The toll so far is grim as 29 people have been rescued so far and another 40 are trapped after torrential rains, according to emergency services and local authorities.
Three firefighters pulled the man’s body from the mud amid the rubble of a dozen houses that were crushed by a landslide in one of the hardest-hit areas.
It is about Zuiz zi Fora, a city of about 540,000 inhabitants located on a hillside where 22 of the dead were recovered.
State of emergency
Floods and landslides claimed the lives of another seven people in the neighboring town of Uba.
The mayor of Juiz zi Fora, Margarida Salomou, declared a state of emergency early yesterday, due to the “serious” situation due to the “intense and persistent” rains, which caused some twenty landslides.
The wettest February in Brazilian history
The city is experiencing the rainiest February in its history. Precipitation has reached 584 mm, in other words it is twice what is recorded on average during a whole year.
In Bournier Park, a dozen houses were engulfed, fire officer Demetrius Goulart told AFP. Many of the victims “were inside their homes,” he summarized.
Wilton Aparecido de Souza couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. His twenty-year-old son lies in the wreckage of the crushed house.
“His life is in God’s hands. He is a good boy, he was about to finish his military service, he wanted to buy a motorcycle,” said the 42-year-old.
“At least let’s find his body, so I can bury him with dignity,” he added.
Agony for the missing
Dozens of residents looked at the firefighters, who were working non-stop searching for survivors, their faces grim, with looks that did not hide their concern.
In the few moments when the machines stopped, the silence was heavy.
“Almost all the people buried by this landslide are my relatives – my sister, my niece,” said Clayton Honan, a 32-year-old warehouse manager.
“I screamed, I prayed (…) I feel sad, but I have hopes that we will find survivors”, he continued.
Hopes are dwindling
But “as the hours pass, the chances of finding survivors become more and more infinitesimal,” warned Paulo Hobertu Bermudez Hezenze, civil protection coordinator in Minas Gerais state, who went to Bournier Park to assess the damage.
Volunteers with the firefighters
The rescue operation is made more difficult due to the possibility of floods, landslides and structural hazards on the banks and areas near the Paraibouna River, which has overflowed, said the fire chief of the Minas Gerais Fire Department, Enquique Barcellos.
Closed schools
The authorities suspended the operation of schools in the affected municipalities.
Some residents filmed buildings collapsing in seconds on cellphones.
“Our priority is to guarantee the distribution of humanitarian aid, the restoration of basic services, assistance to displaced people and support for reconstruction,” President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva said via X.
Brazil has experienced many tragedies due to extreme weather events – floods, droughts, heat waves – in recent years.
In 2024, floods in the south left behind more than 200 dead, while those affected reached 2 million: it was one of the worst disasters in Brazil’s modern history.
In 2022, a severe storm claimed the lives of 241 people in Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro state.
Experts link most of the recent deadly disasters to the effects of climate change.
Source: AFP, ertnews.gr
