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Mudslides Kill 14 Amid Heavy Rains in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro State


Rescue workers are seen at the site of a landslide in which a mother and six of her children were killed, in Paraty, Rio de Janeiro state, April 2, 2022.
Rescue workers are seen at the site of a landslide in which a mother and six of her children were killed, in Paraty, Rio de Janeiro state, April 2, 2022.

Heavy rains caused mudslides that killed at least 14 people in southern coastal cities and the Baixada Fluminense area of Rio de Janeiro state, according to state and local authorities on Saturday.

Rescuers answered 850 calls in the last 24 hours and were able to bring 144 people to safety in the affected regions, state authorities said.

Rio de Janeiro has been hit by inclement weather in the past two months. Landslides and flooding in February killed about 240 people in the Petropolis area, in the hills above Rio de Janeiro, authorities said on March 23.

"We have more than 70 homeless families. We are providing shelters and renting hostels for these people," Luciano Vidal, the mayor of Paraty, told Reuters.

He said mudslides blocked streets and isolated parts of the city, and entire neighborhoods were without electricity in the colonial coastal town that is a tourist attraction.

In one day, Paraty received 32 centimeters of rain, the rainfall average for six months. At least seven people died there, Vidal said. The civil defense statement only confirmed five deaths in Paraty.

The town declared a state of emergency as more rains were in the forecast.

In nearby Angra dos Reis, also a tourist destination hit by heavy rainfall, at least six people died, the latest state tally showed.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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