Updated on
Summary
Days of flooding and mudslides have left as many as 250 people dead in southeast Brazil, with a mountainous region near Rio de Janeiro bearing the brunt At least 237 people were reported to have died in the Serrana mountain region north of Rio Tuesday and Wednesday after extremely heavy tropical rain sent hillsides sliding into towns and rivers broke their banks. The death toll climbed dramatically through the day as reinforced rescue teams totaling over 800 men finally managed to get through to devastated remote areas.A sharp rise, from 170 previously given by local authorities and media, came as the television station GloboNews counted 97 dead in one town, Novo Friburgo, up from seven earlier.The collapse of the telephone system and roads to Nova Friburgo made it impossible to immediately confirm the figure.The dead included three firemen engulfed in mud as they tried to carry out a rescue, the local civil defense chief, Roberto Robadey, told the news website G1. The deaths added to 13 counted in Sao Paulo Monday and Tuesday, bringing the overall death toll for southeast Brazil to 152 so far this week. The town is historically important, having started out as a 19th century getaway for the rulers of Brazil's short-lived empire. Heavy rains common during Brazil's summer wet season were intensified this week by a cold front which doubled the usual precipitation.
