At least 10 people have died after landslides swept through two towns in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state, state officials said.
The Bethania neighborhood in the city of Ipatinga was the worst affected by landslides, which were triggered by stormy rain.
The mayor’s office said 204 mm (8 inches) of rain fell in Ipatinga on Sunday morning.
Landslides after heavy rains are not uncommon in the rainy season, and the hardest hit settlements are precariously built on steep slopes.
The mayor of Ipatinga, Gustavo Nunes, declared a state of emergency.
At least 150 people were left homeless in the city, which is located some 570 km north of Rio de Janeiro.
The mayor said that the city was surprised by heavy rains. “There was no time for people to prepare,” Nunes said.
At least nine people were confirmed dead in Ipatinga, while another body was found half an hour’s drive north in Santana do Paraíso.
Local media reported that two young people managed to escape alive from the house where five of their relatives died buried in the mud.
Landslides also damaged the city’s health center, said Health Minister Ipatinge.
“At the moment the health center is not able to take care of people and all the patients who were waiting here to be transferred have been transferred,” Walisson Medeiros said.
He thanked the neighboring towns for their offer of help.
The governor of Minas Gerais, Romeo Zema, said he would visit the affected area later on Monday.
