Brazil landslide leaves at least 115 dead

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: The Guardian

At least 115 people, including three rescue workers, have been killed following some of the worst landslides in Rio de Janeiro's history.

Torrential rainstorms, which began yesterday, triggered a series of deadly mudslides in at least three mountaintop towns to the north of the city. Dozens of people were buried alive as they slept, among them children.

The worst hit area was Teresópolis, a popular hillside tourist town around 60 miles north of Rio where at least 89 residents were buried under vicious cascades of terracotta mud and debris. Around 1,000 people were left homeless as the waters smashed through the town, destroying homes, power lines and roads.

TV images showed terrified residents fleeing the region on foot or in cars and pleading with authorities for assistance. "Ask for help. There's nothing we can do. There are many families buried," one woman, in floods of tears, told a reporter from Globo television as she abandoned her home today.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/12/brazil-landslide-leaves-115-dead

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Awful. Just when you hear that Brisbane's flood wasn't as high as feared, this comes along to punch you in the stomach.

[Plucketeer]

1. Imagine how much more horrid

things would be if we were experiencing Global Warming! :sarcasm:






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