Frightening moment landslide wipes out homes in historic Rio de Janeiro mountaintop neighborhood that killed at least 110: Search continues for 134 missing residents
- Authorities in Brazil say 110 people had been confirmed dead as of Thursday following this week’s landslide in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro
- At least 135 residents are still missing and close to 500 firefighters have joined in the search
- Video recorded by Beatriz Foster captured the shocking moment a mudslide took out several homes on a Petrópolis hilltop community
- At least 10 inches of rain fell within three hours on Tuesday – almost as much as during the previous 30 days combined
A viral video captured the harrowing moment a landslide spurred by once-a-century rainfall destroyed several homes – and killed more than a 100 people – in the devastated historic Rio de Janeiro municipality of Petrópolis.
Footage shows debris rushing down the colonial-era hilltop city and wiping out many of the residences Tuesday after record rainfall inundated the popular summer resort area that once home to Brazilian royals.
At least 110 residents were killed – the worst in almost a century – and about 134 people were still missing as of Thursday as close to 500 firefighters helped in the search.
Authorities said 65 of those killed were females. The youngest victim, a girl identified as Helena, was celebrating her second birthday just before the deadly landslide.
The state fire department said 10 inches of rain fell within three hours on Tuesday – almost as much as during the previous 30 days combined.
Still image from a video recorded by Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, resident Beatriz Foster on Tuesday after a record rainfall produced a landslide that knocked out several homes in the colonia-era municipality of Petrópolis. At least 110 residents were killed and 134 others were still missing as of Thursday
Aerial view taken Thursday following Tuesday’s mudslide in Petrópolis, a hilltop colonial-era municipality in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro
The massive storm surpassed the average for the entire month of February, flooding streets, washing away cars and buses and leaving gashes hundreds of yards wide on the region’s mountainsides.
‘It was the worst rain since 1932,’ Rio de Janeiro Governor Cláudio Castro told reporters. ‘It was a highly extraordinary rain.’
The Petrópolis city government estimated that at least 80 houses that were set around the Morro da Oficina (Oficina Hill) were completely destroyed by the mudslide.
More than 420 people had to abandon their homes across the municipality that is known as the ‘Imperial City’ for being the summer vacation destination for the Brazilian royalty in the 19th century.
Rescue workers search for survivors in the Petrópolis neighborhood of Morro da Oficina
Heavy machinery was deployed by authorities in Petrópolis, Brazil, on Thursday during the second day of rescue operations following Tuesday’s mudslide that killed at least 110 people and left 134 missing
Residents evacuate from a sector in Petrópolis after rainfall produced a second landslide
A second landslide on Thursday in the Petrópolis neighborhood of 24 de Maio forced the evacuation of a sector after the city was hit by rain.
Video recorded by 18-year-old Instagrammer Beatriz Foster captured some of the homes being flattened by the landslide.
Residents remove debris from a home that was crushed by a deadly flood and mudslide in the Brazilian colonia-era city of Petrópolis
Aerial view of a mudslide site at Morro da Oficina on Thursday in Petrópolis, Brazil. The city was slammed by almost 240 millimeters of rains during the first two hours of the storm, according to Rio de Janeiro Governor Cláudio Castro
Residents and rescue workers work together at a site that was affected by Tuesday’s landslide
Foster told Brazilian news outlet G1 that she, her mother, grandfather and four-month-old sister had to flee their home over concerns that their house would be destroyed.
Foster added that her father’s and stepmother’s residence was nearly flattened by the landslide and that her brothers were covered by mud that had crept inside the house.
‘I’m in shock so far,’ Foster said. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it. Those who live in Petrópolis are used to rain, but it never rained so much, nor was it so dangerous.’
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