At least 207 missing in Brazil floods, 741 dead

Reuters - 

At least 207 people are still missing after Brazil's worst landslides in decades, authorities said on Wednesday, as the death toll from the disaster in a scenic mountain region reached 741.

The list of missing people released by the Rio de Janeiro state prosecutor's office -- the first official estimate of the number of missing since the catastrophe struck a week ago -- suggests the final death toll could be close to 1,000.

Local officials in the worst-affected towns of Teresopolis and Nova Friburgo said the number of missing was at least 300. Many of them are believed buried under the avalanches of mud and debris from flash floods that destroyed hundreds of homes.

"There are families that were so decimated that there is no one left to confirm who's missing," said Roberto Botto, a spokesman for the Civil Defence agency in Nova Friburgo, where at least 345 people died.

The death toll is still rising steadily as rescuers reach isolated areas and dig out more bodies from the wreckage of neighbourhoods that were swept away by landslides and floods triggered by intense rains in southeast Brazil last week.

Army helicopters have been running missions to remote areas to pick up survivors and help them dig corpses from their ruined houses. Hundreds of people are believed to still be in areas at risk of fresh mudslides. Some of them are cut off from help by smashed roads and bridges, while others refuse to leave for fear their houses will be raided by looters.

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Photo Ricardo Moraes

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