Brazil: Scores die in mudslides

The death toll in Brazil from three days of heavy rain that triggered scores of mudslides reached 50, prompting President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to interrupt his holiday for a national emergency meeting.

A hillside collapsed on three houses and a waterfront lodge on an island resort at Angra dos Reis near Rio de Janeiro, killing at least 19 people, authorities said. Another mudslide killed 11.

The severe weather led President Lula da Silva to call an emergency meeting of civil defence authorities.

Rescuers fear the number of victims from the mudslides could rise as a frantic search for survivors continues.

Two key roads linking Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo were damaged and temporarily shut because of rain.