Swiped off: Rubble of houses destroyed by landslips following heavy rains in Petropolis, Brazil, on March 23.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Rescuers in boats and aircraft raced against the clock on March 24 to help isolated people in Brazil’s mountainous southeast after storms and heavy rains killed at least 20 people.

With more rain predicted on March 24, the deluge pounded the States of Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo, where authorities described a chaotic situation due to flooding. The death toll rose there from four to 12 on Sunday as rescuers advanced.

The most affected municipality is Mimoso do Sul, a town of almost 25,000 inhabitants located in the south of Espirito Santo, where at least 10 people died in floods, though officials fear the toll may yet rise. State Governor Renato Casagrande described the situation as “chaotic,” saying that so far it has not been possible to assess the damage in some of the more isolated areas, with fears the toll could yet rise. Search teams rescued a girl buried for more than 16 hours in the city of Petropolis. Her father, who was found dead next to her on Saturday, had “heroically protected the girl with his body,” a neighbour said.

The deluge came as Brazil, South America’s largest country, suffers through a recent string of extreme weather events, which experts say are more likely to occur due to climate change.

Such tragedies “are intensifying with climate change,” President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in a post on X, adding that thousands had been left homeless by the storm. He expressed sympathy for the victims, and said his government was working with state and local authorities to “protect, prevent and repair flood damage.”

Elite police walk through a bus terminal where police say a gunman wounded two people and took 17 others hostage aboard a bus, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on March 12, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Brazilian police said on March 12 they released 17 hostages from a gunman that took over a crowded bus in Rio de Janeiro and wounded at least two people.

Rio police said in its social media channels that all hostages aboard a bus parked at one of the city’s main terminals had been freed “after a successful work of negotiation” led by its elite squad.

The man’s motive remains unclear, Police Col. Marco Andrade said in an interview on TV news channel Globo News. “We have children and older people inside the bus,” Andrade said, adding that very little was known at this stage.

The bus was parked at the Sao Cristovao terminal in the city center and was scheduled to head to the neighboring state of Minas Gerais.

Police cars and ambulances could be seen waiting near the bus, while thousands of passengers were stranded waiting for information on scheduled travel.

People interviewed on TV said they heard several gunshots, causing panic inside the crowded terminal.

One wounded person was sent to a nearby hospital, police said.