Brazil death toll tops 500 amid threat of further rain

THE death toll from massive flooding and landslides in Brazil reached 514 yesterday as renewed rainfall threatened to complicate efforts by rescue teams to reach survivors trapped in isolated areas.

In one of the country’s worst natural disasters, rivers of mud tore through towns in the mountainous Serrana region outside Rio de Janeiro, levelling houses, throwing cars atop buildings and leaving thousands of people seeking shelter.

“The rain did not stop at dawn and is continuing in the morning, which is making the rescue efforts more difficult,” said Lieutenant Rubens Placido, a fireman in the hard-hit town of Nova Friburgo. “The number of deaths is going to rise quite a bit. There are still a lot of people buried.”