20/01/2011 11:23
At least 207 missing in Brazil floods, 741 dead
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, as reported by Reuters.
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 Defense agency in Nova Friburgo, where at least 345 people died.