- Title: BRAZIL: Rescue workers remove bodies of landslide victims in Rio de Janeiro
- Date: 9th April 2010
- Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (APRIL 08, 2010) (REUTERS) AERIAL VIEW OF SUGARLOAF MOUNTAIN VARIOUS OF AERIAL VIEWS OF RIO'S MAIN LAGOON WITH MUDDY WATER AERIAL VIEW OF BRIDGE THAT CONNECTS THE CITY OF RIO DE JANEIRO TO NITEROI NITEROI, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (APRIL 08, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF AERIAL VIEWS OF MUDSLIDE SITE AT BUMBA HILL SLUM (5 SHOTS) RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (APRIL 08, 2010) (REUTERS) AERIAL VIEW OF RIO DE JANEIRO'S DOWNTOWN AREA VARIOUS OF AERIAL VIEWS OF MUDSLIDE SITE AT PRAZERES SLUM (3 SHOTS) NITEROI, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (APRIL 08, 2010) (REUTERS) MECHANICAL DIGGERS REMOVING MUD FROM LANDSLIDE SITE (2 SHOTS) RESCUE WORKERS CARRYING COVERED BODY DOWN MUD HILL VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WATCHING RESCUE EFFORTS (2 SHOTS) VARIOUS OF RIO DE JANEIRO'S STATE GOVERNOR SERGIO CABRAL AT LANDSLIDE SCENE RESCUE WORKERS BRINGING DOWN ANOTHER BODY AND PLACING IT IN VAN VARIOUS OF BULLDOZER FILLING TRUCK WITH DIRT TRUCK LEAVING LANDSLIDE SITE FILLED WITH DIRT
- Embargoed: 24th April 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Brazil
- Country: Brazil
- Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
- Reuters ID: LVA9ZM8LAV272V8O0VM7BU2JP04X
- Story Text: Rio de Janeiro State Governor Sergio Cabral visits the Morro do Bumba slum, where dozens of people are feared dead following a landslide that buried over 60 shacks. Rescue efforts are also being carried out in other hillside areas in Rio.
The marks left behind by the torrential rains that battered Rio de Janeiro since the beginning of the week are everywhere to be seen in the tourist city.
Landslides and floods set off by the heaviest rains in decades have claimed at least 169 lives and turned the city's lagoons and ocean waters brown.
Large waves also pounded Rio's scenic Copacabana beach as rains resumed and authorities warned people not to swim or surf until conditions returned to normal.
The storm triggered close to 200 mudslides that crushed shacks in hillside slums, causing most of the deaths and leaving thousands of people homeless.
The neighboring city of Niteroi was the worst affected area with at least 85 people dead. On Wednesday night, the poor Bumba Hill neighborhood was swept away by a mudslide, killing 10 and leaving at least 70 people missing.
Rio de Janeiro's state governor visited the community on Thursday afternoon and said called the incident a "human and environmental tragedy."
Ten bodies have been pulled from the mud and rescue workers are working against the clock to find more survivors in the area.
Most of the damage was concentrated in slums where about a fifth of Rio's people live, often in precarious shacks. Bumba Hill was built atop a former garbage dump.
Several local media outlets said 200 people were buried beneath the mudslide there, some citing Rio's civil defense agency.
Civil defense officials contacted by Reuters also said they could not confirm the information.
Authorities say at least 10,000 houses still are at risk of collapse and the national government has sent security forces to help with rescue operations. Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes has appealed to the federal government for 370 million reais ($208 million) in aid for emergency operations.
For a third day, Paes urged Rio residents to stay home or at least avoid traveling to the city center as weather forecasts called for rains to continue until the weekend.
The transportation chaos renewed attention on Rio's poor infrastructure as it prepares to host the soccer World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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