BRAZIL: 8-year-old boy is pulled out dead from mudslide rubble

Record ID: 333121

  • Title: BRAZIL: 8-year-old boy is pulled out dead from mudslide rubble
  • Date: 8th April 2010
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF FIRE FIGHTERS PULLING OUT BODY OF 8-YEAR-OLD BOY FROM RUBBLE
  • Embargoed: 23rd April 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVAB7BSOS8H0H1W1F34GDC6X1TB7
  • Story Text: Fire fighters and residents of a slum in Rio de Janeiro pull out the body of a 8-year-old boy killed by a mudslide, while another man is found dead in the rubble of a shack in another shantytown.Rio de Janeiro braced for more rain on Wednesday (April 07) as the death toll from flooding climbed to 104 and order slowly returned to Brazil's second-biggest city that was thrown into chaos a day earlier.
    Rio's Fire Department said rescue teams had stepped up searches for dozens of people missing as a result of floods and mudslides.
    Residents of the Morro dos Prazeres slum watched desperately as fire fighters pulled out the body of an 8-year-old boy from the rubble of a shack destroyed in a mudslide.
    Meters away, Gildana Silva cried over her destroyed home, where her 19 and 14-year-old daughters were killed on Tuesday.
    "This house is the least important loss. I would like to have my daughters here with me. When it comes to the house, we can live under the bridge," she said.
    Rescue teams arrived at the severely hit slum at daybreak on Wednesday to search for the missing victims.
    Fire fighter Luiz Carlos dos Anjos cried after his team failed to recover the young boy from the debris.
    "Everyone here is a hero. I would like to thank all the residents. I am a bit emotional because I promised the father that I would get his son out of here. We promised him that and we couldn't do it," he said.
    Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes urged residents to postpone meetings and avoid traveling in the city if possible. Schools remained shut for a second day.
    He also said traffic had improved after the heaviest rains in at least three decades on Tuesday turned highways into lakes, left commuters and residents stranded and sparked mudslides that crushed houses in hillsides slums.
    The government weather service predicted rain would continue until Saturday even after clouds broke briefly and rains eased on Wednesday morning.
    In the nearby city of Niteroi, residents desperately searched for survivors in rubble left from 10 houses that collapsed from a mudslide.
    Footage recorded by a resident's cell phone showed the body of a man being pulled out of the rubble by his neighbors on Wednesday morning.
    A Fire Department spokesman said 39 people were killed in the city of Rio, famous for its beaches and Carnaval celebrations, while the remainder of the casualties took place in suburbs and in neighboring cities and town of the state of Rio de Janeiro.
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