Sylvie Claire / February 20, 2022
Rescuers discovered new bodies Saturday under piles of mud in the Brazilian city of Petropolis (southeast) devastated by floods and landslides that have killed at least 146 people, including 26 children, according to the latest assessment of authorities.
Five days after the disaster, the rescuers, recognizable by their orange uniforms, continued all day the search with shovels and spades to try to find the missing, noted AFP.
Heavy rains fell on Tuesday on the city of 300,000 inhabitants, located 60 km north of Rio de Janeiro, turning the streets into torrents of mud and causing landslides. Petropolis received more rain than the average for the whole month of February.
More than 500 firefighters, with helicopters, shovels and sniffer dogs remain mobilized, even if the chances of finding survivors are increasingly slim.
So far, 91 bodies of the 146 found have been identified, and 90 victims have been buried in the main cemetery of the city, including 44 on Saturday alone, according to authorities.