At least 39 killed in Brazil mudslides

Mudslides triggered by torrential rains have swept through a southeastern Brazilian city, burying houses and killing at least 39 people.

Some 1,500 people were driven from their homes by the torrent of water and mud in Angra dos Reis, a city of about 60,000 tucked between mountains and the Atlantic Ocean 100 miles west of Rio de Janeiro.

"The numbers could rise a little but we don't expect it to grow much more than this," said Colonel Sergio Simoes of the local fire department, which led the search for survivors and victims.

The city's mayor, Fernando Jordao, declared a state of public calamity as the rain continued to fall

In 24 hours, the city got more than five inches of rain - nearly as much as the average rainfall for two weeks, the National Weather Institute in Rio said.

Hardest hit was the poor district of Areal near the Japuida River, which breached its banks and provoked a mudslide that covered at least 10 houses. Most of the houses were little more than shacks built on hillsides.

Dozens of firefighters waded through thigh-high red mud near the site where a hillside slipped away, ripping out trees and burying entire families, according to residents.