Rescue workers today unearthed two more victims of mudslides in the central Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, bringing to 35 the number of people killed recently in heavy rainstorms, officials said.
The latest victims were found in city of Juiz de Fora, about 100 miles north of Rio de Janeiro where rescue crews are sifting through tons of thick brown mud and rubble with little hope of finding survivors. Torrential rains have swept the state since early Thursday, washing away nearly 3,000 homes in the mudslides that followed, according to the civil defence unit.
Though the rains had let up in most of the state, more than 8,000 people were still unable to return to their homes, dozens of which were in danger of collapsing. So far a total of 95 people have been injured and 1,203 left homeless by the storms, authorities said.
On Friday, the federal government said it had allocated $4.4 million for disaster victims, while the state government put up another $1.5 million for the rescue effort.
More than 30 municipalities have declared states of emergency, but the worst damage was in Belo Horizonte, Brazil's fourth-largest metropolitan area, where 15 people were killed. Deaths were also reported in seven other municipalities.
Summer flash flooding is common in Brazil, and the mudslides that sometimes follow wreak havoc in hillside shantytowns. Last weekend, 16 people died in Rio de Janeiro state and 52 people died in December after hard rains.