Brazil: The death toll from landslides and devastating floods that hit the Brazilian city of Petropolis has risen to 139.
The city authorities stated that 26 children are among the 139 victims, adding that more than 500 rescuers continued to search in dense fog using helicopters, excavators, police dogs and shovels, in an attempt to find more survivors, five days after the disaster that befell Petropolis, which has a population of 300,000 people.
The authorities indicated that 24 people were found alive since the search began, while the police said the number of those still missing is around 218.
They explained that so far, 91 of the 139 bodies found have been identified and 65 victims were buried in the city's main cemetery, including 19 bodies that were buried on Saturday.
The rains that fell on Petropolis, the mountainous region and tourist destination in the state of Rio de Janeiro, since last Tuesday, are the heaviest since 1932.
Moreover, experts attribute the downpour to the phenomenon of La Nina, the widespread decrease in surface temperatures in the central Pacific Ocean, and to climate change.
In recent months, rains in Brazil have killed dozens of people in the states of Bahia, Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo.
