Brazil
Lionel Messi scores 2 in Argentina's World Cup qualifying win over Peru; Brazil's Neymar injured
Lionel Messi scored twice in Argentina's 2-0 win at Peru in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday, playing the entire match for his national team. The 36-year-old appeared fit after he was sidelined for several matches with his club Inter Miami because of muscular pain
Also Tuesday, Brazil — the archrival of the defending World Cup champion — took two serious blows at Uruguay. Brazil lost 2-0 to the hosts, its first defeat in 37 World Cup qualifying matches, and saw its star Neymar leave the Centenario Stadium in Montevideo on crutches with a left knee injury.
Elsewhere, Venezuela beat Chile 3-0. Yeferson Soteldo opened the scoring shortly before the break, Salomón Rondón added a goal in the 72nd minute, and Darwin Machis scored seven minutes later. Last week, Venezuela earlier had a 1-1 draw against Brazil.
Ecuador and Colombia had a scoreless draw, and Paraguay beat Bolivia 1-0 on Antonio Sanabria's goal in the 69th minute.
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Argentina leads South American qualifying with 12 points in four matches. Uruguay, Brazil and Venezuela have seven points and are separated by goal difference. Colombia has six points, and Ecuador, Paraguay and Chile have four each. Peru has one point and Bolivia has zero.
The next World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada will include 48 teams, meaning direct entry for the top six teams in South America. The seventh-place team will contest an intercontinental playoff for a berth.
Two more rounds of South American World Cup qualifying will be played in November. Brazil and Argentina will face off at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Nov. 21.
ARGENTINA 2, PERU 0
Messi increased his total to 106 goals in 178 international appearances, moving within two of Iran's Ali Daei for second on the career list behind Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo at 127.
The defending World Cup champion never faced risks at Lima's National Stadium against a Peruvian team that has yet to score in four qualifying matches. Argentina's confident performance could be traced to Messi finally playing as a starter and appearing fully healthy.
The 36-year-old made it 1-0 after a counterattack in the 32nd minute. Enzo Fernández passed to Nico González on the left. A low cross found Messi at the edge of the box, and he shot it to the left angle of goalkeeper Pedro Gallese.
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Messi scored again 10 minutes later after Enzo Fernández found him nearly at the same spot. Messi shot it on Gallese's right corner. He later had a goal disallowed for a low margin offside caught by video review in the 57th minute.
“Yes, we have a good group and a good environment in our dressing room and things are much easier. We enjoy being together and playing together," Messi said. “After we won the World Cup we got confidence, we are more united and firm. I hope we can keep growing.”
Peruvian and Argentinian fans tried to invade the field after the match to hug Messi, who led the World Cup champions to their eighth straight victory since they won last year’s title in Qatar.
Last Thursday, Messi played for almost an entire half of Argentina's 1-0 victory over Paraguay.
URUGUAY 2, BRAZIL 0
After a slow start to the match in Montevideo, Maximiliano Araujo easily beat Marquinhos on the left flank and crossed the ball to Darwin Núnez, who headed it into the net.
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The second half started with Brazil still doubtful and Uruguay ready to counterattack. One of those transitions was enough for a close-range finish by Nicolás de la Cruz in the 77th minute.
“In the short run we need to be realistic, we need to improve,” Brazil captain Casemiro said. “For Neymar to leave the match it is surely something serious. But I hope it isn’t at the end. He has had those injuries whenever he starts picking up his pace again, it is hard.”
With and without Neymar, Brazil had its worst performance under new coach Fernando Diniz, who will remain in the job at least until next year's Copa America.
Uruguay, now coached by Argentinian Marcelo Bielsa, had its first win against Brazil in 22 years.
“We had to play against a tough and direct rival,” Núñez said. “Today we made history.”
Neymar breaks Pele's Brazil goal-scoring record in 5-1 win in South American World Cup qualifying
Neymar became the top goal scorer for Brazil's national team after surpassing the total of three-time World Cup winner Pelé on Friday.
The goal that put the 31-year-old Neymar on the top of Brazil's scoring record with 78 came in the 61st minute in a World Cup qualifying match against Bolivia in the Amazon city of Belém.
It was Brazil's fourth goal of the match in a 5-1 win, with the last goal of the game also being scored by Neymar during injury time.
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Neymar's record-breaking goal came after a low cross into the penalty box, which the striker finished with accuracy from close range. He celebrated with a punch in the air, as Pelé usually did.
Earlier, the Al-Hilal striker missed a penalty in the 17th minute, which goalkeeper Billy Viscarra saved.
Neymar's second goal in the match came in similar fashion near the final whistle, with another low cross by Raphinha.
Brazil's soccer confederation considers Pelé as its top goal scorer with 95 goals in 114 matches. FIFA does not count goals the three-time World Cup winner had at national team friendlies against clubs.
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"78 times Neymar," the Brazilian soccer body said on social media after Neymar's record-breaking goal. "Neymar scores the fifth for the Selecao," it said after the striker's second goal against Bolivia.
Pelé's Foundation, however, acknowledged Neymar's achievement.
"Congratulations, Neymar Jr, for surpassing the King in goals for the Brazilian National Team in official FIFA matches," it said on social media. "Surely Pelé is applauding you today!"
Pelé died from cancer on Dec. 29 in Sao Paulo at the age of 82.
Striker Rodrygo, who also scored two goals against Bolivia, said he's still very much a Neymar fan.
"Neymar is very much a hero of mine," Rodrygo said. "This will be in my memory, this was a very special day."
Read : Messi scores from a free kick to give Argentina 1-0 win in South American World Cup qualifying
Neymar's most-recent match for Brazil before the victory over Bolivia was the World Cup quarterfinal loss last year to Croatia. He left Qatar with doubts about his future in the national team and did not play the Selecao's first three games this year.
New Brazil coach Fernando Diniz said Neymar came to play for Brazil "to score goals, break records, show that he is very much willing to live this (the national team.)"
"He is a great hero," Diniz said. "People have to recognize it and accept it. He doesn't do anything to get this adoration he gets from the crowd, it is because of the natural talent he has."
Flooding in southern Brazil leaves at least 31 dead and 2,300 homeless
Flooding from a cyclone in southern Brazil washed away houses, trapped motorists in vehicles and swamped streets in several cities, killing at least 31 people and leaving 2,300 homeless, authorities said Wednesday.
More than 60 cities have been battered since Monday night by the storm, which has been Rio Grande do Sul state's deadliest, Gov. Eduardo Leite said.
“The fly-over we just did, shows the dimension of an absolutely out of the ordinary event,” Leite said in a video posted on the state's social media accounts. “It wasn’t just riverside communities that were hit, but entire cities that were completely compromised.”
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Videos shot by rescue teams Tuesday and published by the online news site G1 had shown some families on the top of their houses pleading for help as rivers overflowed their banks. Some areas were entirely cut off after wide avenues turned into fast-moving rivers.
Leite said Wednesday that the death toll had reached 31, and state emergency authorities said at least 2,300 people were made homeless. Another 3,000 had to temporarily evacuate their houses.
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In Mucum, a city of about 50,000 residents, rescuers found 15 bodies in a single house. Once the storm had passed, residents discovered a trail of destruction along the river with most buildings swept away down to the ground level. Images showed a sheep hanging from an electrical line — an indication of how high the water had risen.
“The water arrived very fast, it was rising two meters (6½ feet) an hour,” Mucum resident Marcos Antonio Gomes said, standing on top of a pile of debris. “We have nothing left. Not even clothes.”
In an indication of how long people might be stranded, the Mucum city hall advised residents Tuesday to seek out supplies to meet their needs for the next 72 hours. Other towns called on their citizens with boats to help with rescue efforts.
Gomes, a 55-year-old businessman, said it was the fourth time in 15 years that his house was damaged by floods. He said this one was the worst so far, and he expects more flooding in the future.
“There's no way we can live here. This will come back. We have to abandon (this place)," Gomes said.
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Many of the victims died from electrical shock, or were trapped in vehicles, online news site G1 reported. One woman died as she was swept away during a rescue attempt.
Search and rescue teams have focused on the Taquari Valley, about 150 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of the state capital, Porto Alegre, where most of the victims and damage were recorded. But those efforts expanded farther west on Wednesday morning, with helicopters sent to the Rio Pardo Valley.
More heavy rains were expected to hit the state’s center-south region, while possibly sparing worst-hit areas. Authorities maintained three flooding alerts on Wednesday — for the Jacui, Cai and Taquari rivers.
Rio Grande do Sul was hit by another cyclone in June, which killed 16 people and caused destruction in 40 cities, many of those around Porto Alegre.
Fierce storm in southern Brazil kills at least 21 people and displaces more than 1,600
At least 21 people died in southern Brazil due to a fierce storm that caused floods in several cities, authorities said Tuesday.
Rio Grande do Sul Gov. Eduardo Leite said the death toll is the state’s highest due to a climate event. He said about 60 cities had been battered by the storm, which was classified as an extratropical cyclone.
Leite said 15 of the deaths occurred in one house in Mucum, a city of about 50,000 residents.
The Rio Grande do Sul state government said it had recorded 1,650 people made homeless since Monday night.
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TV footage showed familes on the top of their houses pleading for help as rivers overflowed their banks.
The city hall at Mucum recommended that residents seek out supplies to meet their needs for the next 72 hours.
The governor said one of the dead was a woman who was swept away during a rescue attempt.
“I regret the death of a woman in a rescue attempt over the Taquari river,” Leite said in his social media channels. “The wire broke, she and a rescuer fell. Unfortunately the woman did not survive and the rescuer is seriously injured.”
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Rio Grande do Sul was hit by another extratropical cyclone in June, which killed 16 people and caused destruction in 40 cities, many of those around state capital of Porto Alegre.
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Brazil’s president, players support Vinícius Júnior, criticize racism in Spanish league
Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has joined soccer clubs and players in coming out to support star striker Vinícius Júnior after he once more faced racist abuse in a Spanish league match on Sunday.
The latest incident took place in Real Madrid's 1-0 loss at Valencia, a match that had to be temporarily stopped after the Brazil forward said he was insulted by a fan behind one of the goals at Mestalla Stadium.
Valencia fans were filmed making monkey chants toward Vinícius, who is Black.
Lula told a news conference in Japan on the sidelines of a G7 meeting that he hopes FIFA, the Spanish League and other soccer bodies "take measures so we don't allow racism and fascism to take over" in the sport.
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"It is not fair that a poor boy who is winning in his life, becoming one of the best in the world, certainly the best at Real Madrid, is insulted in every stadium he goes to," Lula said. Several of his cabinet ministers also backed Vinicius and were critical of the Spanish league.
Brazil's Human Rights Minister Silvio Almeida, who is Black, said on Twitter: "The behavior of Spanish authorities and of the entities that govern its soccer is criminal."
"It shows undeniable acceptance of racism," Almeida said. "(Vinicius) I will be on your side to hold those that attack you accountable, but also those who omit themselves."
Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes used expletives on Twitter to insult Spanish league president Javier Tebas, who criticized Vinicius following the incident for his comments on the lack of action of the sport's national authorities every time he is racially abused during matches.
"You want to blame the victim, you idiot?" Paes posted.
Ednaldo Rodrigues, the first Black president of the Brazilian soccer confederation, said he is troubled by the lack of action in Spain after another racist incident against Vinicius.
"Until when will we have to see episodes like the one we just witnessed, yet again in La Liga?" Rodrigues said. "Until when will we have to fight for concrete and efficient measures on and off the pitch? There is no joy where there is racism."
Flamengo, the club where Vinicius started his career, issued a statement saying "it is even more shocking to know that it is not the first time and that so little has been done to fight (racism in the Spanish league) and stop it from happening again." Other Brazilian clubs made similar comments.
Many of Vinicius' teammates in the national team also showed their support for the 22-year-old forward, who has been subject to racist abuse since moving to Spain five years ago.
"They always did whatever they could to stop Blacks from coming near the top," striker Richarlison said. "They enslaved, marginalized and killed. But they will never knock down those who were born to be big. History forgets the rats and makes those fighting these bad people much bigger. I am with you always, Vini."
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti considered replacing Vinícius after he said fans at the Mestalla Stadium chanted "monkey" toward him. He said Vinícius initially didn't want to continue playing.
He was later sent off after an altercation with Valencia players, and gestured to home fans about their team's fight against relegation as he left the field.
Man in Brazil kills 4 children, injures 3 at daycare center
A man who invaded a daycare center with a hatchet killed four children and injured at least three others Wednesday in southern Brazil, authorities said.
Santa Catarina state's Gov. Jorginho Mello confirmed the killings in the city of Blumenau on his Twitter account, and wrote that the killer has been arrested. The state’s firefighters corps confirmed the man attacked with a hatchet and that three children were taken to the hospital.
Images broadcast on television showed weeping parents outside the private daycare center, named Cantinho do Bom Pastor. Local media reported the attacker scaled a wall to enter the daycare center wielding a hatchet.
Neither the state’s military police nor its security secretariat immediately responded to Associated Press requests for more information.
School attacks in Brazil had been uncommon, but have begun happening with greater frequency in recent years. Last week, a student in Sao Paulo stabbed a teacher, killing her, and also wounded several others in Sao Paulo.
“May God comfort the hearts of all families in this moment of deep pain,” Gov. Mello wrote on Twitter.
Blumenau, a city of 366,000 people, is famous for its annual Oktoberfest festival.
Besides Trump, these are the current and former world leaders facing criminal charges
Donald Trump may be the first former US president to face criminal charges, but many current and past leaders around the world have been tried or even jailed.
Several of those leaders described the charges leveled against them as “politically motivated”. Yet, the charges have not always been a barrier to holding political office, reports CNN.Here are some notable recent examples:
Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu
No one has served as Prime Minister of Israel longer than Benjamin Netanyahu, who was sworn in for his sixth term late last year.
He is also being tried for corruption on counts of fraud, bribery, and breach of trust. The Israeli PM, however, called the trial a “witch hunt.”
While the case continues, Netanyahu has pushed a contentious plan to weaken Israel's judiciary, the report also said.
One of the measures limits the methods by which a sitting prime minister may be judged unfit for office, prompting many Israeli opposition lawmakers to accuse Netanyahu of manipulating the judicial makeover to protect himself. He denies the charges.
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Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was imprisoned in April 2018, and was released in November 2019.He was jailed for corruption and money laundering after a construction business reportedly paid him and his wife $1.1 million in renovations and costs for a beachfront condominium.
Prosecutors claimed that in exchange, the business received lucrative contracts from Petrobras, the state-controlled oil giant.
Lula has referred to the allegations as a "farce," stating that they are politically driven. Upon his release from jail in 2019, a Brazilian court overturned his corruption convictions, allowing Lula to run for president in 2022, when he beat Jair Bolsonaro. In January, he was sworn in for the third time as president.
Bolsonaro is now facing potential legal problems, including allegations that he incited violent attacks in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia in January.
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Argentina’s Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentina's current vice president, was sentenced to six years in jail last December after being found guilty of corruption during her two stints as president, from 2007 to 2011 and 2011 to 2015, the report also said.
She was accused of conspiring with other government officials to grant contracts worth millions of dollars for road construction that were unfinished, expensive, and useless, according to the complaint.The charges against her were politically-motivated, Kirchner stated.
The Argentine court convicted the 70-year-old former president of the country guilty of "fraudulent administration" and barred her from holding public office again.
She does, however, have temporary immunity because of her present employment, which means she will not be going to jail anytime soon and can appeal.
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Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim
After two stints in jail prior to his premiership, Anwar Ibrahim became Malaysia's prime minister in November 2022, in an unprecedented turn of events.
Anwar was sentenced to prison in April 1999 after being convicted of sodomy. Sodomy, even if consensual, is a crime punishable by up to 20 years in jail in Muslim-majority Malaysia. He has always vigorously denied the allegations, claiming they were politically motivated.
In 2004, a court reversed that conviction. Further claims of sodomy were leveled against him after his comeback as an opposition figure, and he was remanded to prison in 2014 after a lengthy legal struggle that lasted years.
Anwar was freed from jail in May 2018 after receiving a royal pardon. He immediately returned to parliament before leading the Pakatan Harapan coalition to a majority of seats in Malaysia's general election in 2022.
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Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi
Before 2011, the flamboyant Italian billionaire was a serial prime minister.
Berlusconi was the dominating figure in Italian politics for over two decades, during which time he was prosecuted on at least 17 counts of embezzlement, tax fraud, and bribery, said the CNN report.He has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and several of his convictions have been overturned on appeal.
His resignation in 2011 was not due to legal concerns, but rather to Italy's debt crisis.The 81-year-old gained a seat in Italy's Senate in September 2022, and his party is a member of the country's ruling coalition.
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Haunted by post-election riot, Brazil’s Lula reins in army
When rioters stormed Brazil’s top government buildings in January to dispute the outcome of the presidential election, many soldiers stood by as far-right protesters broke windows, defecated in offices and destroyed valuable art.
The images from Brasilia that day still haunt the left-leaning government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He has strived ever since to ensure that military leaders defend South America’s largest democracy and stay out of politics.
The threat isn't just hypothetical. Brazil has lived through four military coups – the most recent one in 1964, followed by two decades of brutal dictatorship.
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Lula’s task is fraught. The military is filled with supporters of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, and its role in the new government is being diminished by the day.
Lula has already tapped more than 100 civilians to replace military officers Bolsonaro appointed to key positions, and he has moved oversight of the country's intelligence agency to his chief of staff's office, among other changes.
“Lula needed to manage his relationship with the military to be able to govern, and will continue to do so,” said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo.
Melo said Brazil's military has long believed that it has "some kind of guardianship of the country’s political process," and Bolsonaro only fueled that belief.
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Bolsonaro, a former army captain, appointed more than 6,000 military officers to jobs across his government and revived an annual commemoration of the 1964 coup to stoke nostalgia for the days of military rule.
Although that era was marked by human rights abuses and the loss of civil liberties, Bolsonaro and many of his supporters remember it fondly as a time of strong nationalism, economic growth and conservative values. They view Lula's efforts to tame the military as heavy-handed and misguided.
“Stop looking through the rearview mirror and govern for all Brazilians,” Bolsonaro's former vice president, Gen. Hamilton Mourão, who is now a senator, said in an interview.
The most significant move Lula has made so far has been to elevate Gen. Tomás Paiva to be the army’s top commander.
Paiva, 62, has pledged to keep soldiers out of politics and to respect the results of October’s election, in which Lula beat Bolsonaro by a razor-thin margin.
Yet Paiva has also acknowledged that most the military’s leaders voted for Bolsonaro, and he lamented Lula’s victory to subordinates just three days before the new president called to offer him the promotion — comments he later said were misinterpreted.
Lula has taken various other steps aimed inoculating Brazil from the risk of another violent uprising with at least tacit support from some in the military:
— He blocked the appointment of a Bolsonaro loyalist to command the Goiania battalion, based an uncomfortably close 124 miles from the capital.
— He placed the country’s intelligence agency — formerly overseen by members of the military — under the office of his chief of staff, which is led by civilians.
— He took a symbolically important trip to the U.S., which before the election had warned Brazilian military leaders to steer clear of politics if they wanted access to arms purchases and cooperation from American armed forces.
For now, there is no evidence of another uprising being planned or of military leaders questioning Lula's orders, according to a high-ranking official in the army and a person who works closely with the defense minister, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly.
Lula enlisted the military’s cooperation twice in February: as part of a massive operation to expel some 20,000 illegal miners from the Yanomami Indigenous area in Brazil’s Amazon, and to help rescue people after mudslides near Sao Paulo.
These represented early tests of the relationship between Lula and the military, and the results were very positive, said political consultant Thomas Traumann. Still, there's no guarantee of long-term stability, he said.
It remains to be seen whether military retirees and active duty service members who either took part in the Jan. 8 riots or turned a blind eye to them will receive punishment. Some analysts believe that would be important to deter future action.
One video from Jan. 8 showed policemen at the presidential palace in the rare position of barking orders at soldiers: “Lead your troops!” one officer shouted at members of the presidential guard, which is part of the army.
Another video showed dozens of rioters surrounded by police in the palace, as a general attempts to free them. “Are you nuts?” a policeman asks. “They’re in custody!”
Hundreds of civilians who participated in the riots have been jailed and dozens indicted. But service members have so far been spared. The military prosecutors’ office and the top military court have opened 17 investigations, although neither has been transparent about the process.
The incoming Chief Justice of Brazil’s Superior Military Court, Joseli Camelo, said he was encouraged recently when the army canceled a plan to commemorate the upcoming anniversary of the 1964 military coup, a dictatorship-era tradition that Bolsonaro revived.
“This is just another demonstration that the commander is aligned with all the powers towards our common challenge, which is to pacify Brazil and definitively reinforce democracy in our country,” Camelo said.
Mourão, Bolsonaro's former vice president, says the military should not spare any of its members who are proven guilty of taking part in the riots. “The armed forces are shaped to be rigorous in the investigation of disciplinary errors and military crimes,” he said.
Even before taking office in January, Lula — who served as president from 2003-2010 — knew it was essential for him to bolster ties with the country’s right-leaning military.
Some highly regarded military leaders had openly derided him before the election, and some even campaigned to reelect Bolsonaro. For months, the army permitted anti-Lula protesters who were openly supportive of a military coup against him to camp outside their barracks.
In Lula’s first two presidential terms, his relationship with the military was marked by conciliation rather than confrontation, said Fabio Victor, a journalist who just published a best-selling book on Brazil’s armed forces and politics. But Jan. 8 appears to have altered his calculus.
In contrast with Bolsonaro's administration, few members of the armed forces work at the presidential palace, Victor said. With an eye toward the future, Lula's allies in Congress are pushing for constitutional changes that would more clearly define the military's powers and limits, and his ministers are looking at overhauling military education.
“Lula today is very suspicious of the military,” Victor said.
Brazil deluge toll hits 44 as search continues for missing
The death toll from flooding and landslides in Brazil’s southern state of Sao Paulo reached 44 on Tuesday as searches continued for dozens still missing.
Most of the search was concentrated in the mountainous coastal municipality of Sao Sebastiao where 43 deaths have been recorded. Firefighters still hoped to find people alive in the rubble of houses slammed by landslides during a weekend deluge, said Sao Sebastiao city hall worker Pedro de Rosario.
“Hope is the last thing that dies, so we have a lot of hope," de Rosario said. “There are still people buried.”
Seven bodies have been identified and released for burial, while nearly 800 people are homeless and 1,730 people have been displaced, the Sao Paulo state government said in a statement.
Members of the armed forces joined the search and rescue efforts, and starting Thursday the Navy will build a hospital with up to 300 beds to help relief efforts, Gov. Tarcisio de Freitas said at a news conference in Sao Sebastiao on Tuesday.
Authorities are digging through the mud and clearing roads, but parts of the highway connecting Rio de Janeiro state with Sao Paulo’s port city of Santos are still blocked by landslides. Another road connecting the city of Bortiga to inland Sao Paulo remains completely blocked.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited the region on Monday. In remarks to reporters, he called for people living in the hillside areas to be relocated to safer regions.
Precipitation in Sao Sebastiao surpassed 600 millimeters (23.6 inches) during a 24-hour period over the weekend, among the largest such downpours ever in such a short period in Brazil.
Around 7.5 tons of aid items including food, water and hygiene kits have already been distributed to the victims, the state government of Sao Paulo said.
The affected area, on the northern coast of Sao Paulo state and famous for beach resorts flanked by mountains, is a frequent Carnival destination for wealthy tourists who prefer to stay away from massive street parties in big cities.
Heavy rains leave 36 dead in Brazil
Heavy rain caused flooding and landslides that have killed 36 people in Brazil’s north Sao Paulo state, officials said Sunday, and the fatalities could rise.
Sao Paulo state government said in a statement that 35 died in the city of Sao Sebastiao and a 7-year-old girl was killed in neighboring Ubatuba.
The cities of Sao Sebastiao, Ubatuba, Ilhabela and Bertioga, some of the hardest hit and now under state of calamity, canceled their Carnival festivities as rescue teams struggle to find missing, injured and feared dead in the rubble.
“Our rescue teams are not managing to get to several locations; it is a chaotic situation,” said Felipe Augusto, the mayor of Sao Sebastiao. Later, he added there are dozens of people missing and that 50 houses collapsed in the city due to the landslides.
Augusto posted on social media several videos of widespread destruction in his city, including one of baby being rescued by locals lined up on a flooded street.
Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Twitter he will visit the region Monday.
Sao Paulo state government said in a statement that precipitation in the region has surpassed 600 millimeters (23.6 inches) in one day, one of the highest amounts ever in Brazil in such a short period.
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Bertioga alone had 687 millimeters during that period, the state government said.
Gov. Tarcisio de Freitas said in a statement he requested support from the army, which sent two airplanes and rescue teams to the region.
TV footage showed houses flooded with only the roof visible. Residents are using small boats to carry items and people to higher positions. A road that connects Rio de Janeiro to the port city of Santos was blocked by landslides and floodwaters.
The northern coast of Sao Paulo state is a frequent Carnival destination for wealthy tourists who prefer to stay away from massive street parties in big cities.