Death toll from heavy rains in Brazil rises to 198

By Muhammed Emin Canik

BUENOS AIRES (AA) – The death toll rose to 198 from heavy rains and mudslides in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state, official media said Wednesday.

More than 800 people have been housed in shelters and 69 are still reported missing after the recent floods and landslides in Petropolis, north of Rio de Janeiro, according to Agencia Brasil news agency.

Search and rescue efforts have been underway for more than a week.

The Civil Defense Secretariat announced 1,800 incidents in Petropolis so far, with most of them landslides, due to heavy rains.

Petropolis Municipality called on residents to stay home amid the large-scale efforts to clean the streets.

Rio de Janeiro State Governor Claudio Castro had said that the region was exposed to its heaviest rainfall since 1932.

In just six hours, Petropolis saw the amount of rain it would expect in a month, according to authorities.

More than 900 people died in a flooding tragedy in the city in 2011 and more than 100 others went missing.

*Writing by Merve Berker