Torrential rains leave four dead in Rio

Torrential rains killed four people and left dozens homeless as roads were washed out and houses collapsed in Rio de Janeiro and surrounding cities, civil defence officials said today.

Geralda Gomes and her 10-year-old son Jefferson were killed Saturday night when a hillside gave way and buried their house in Cachoeiras de Macacu, a mountain city 55 miles north-east of Rio, the government news service Radiobras said.

Two others were trapped in the rubble of their collapsed homes and died in Niteroi and Marica, on Rio’s eastern outskirts, Radiobras said.

Dozens were left homeless when a two-storey apartment building collapsed in Rio’s residential Tijuca district, but no injuries were reported.

The storm also caused a landslide that closed Rio’s main coastal highway near the nuclear energy complex in Angra dos Reis, 110 miles west of Rio. The road was reopened this morning.

Brazil’s national weather bureau predicted more rain in Rio this week.