At least two people died in a landslide that swept 16 vehicles in the state of Paraná, in southern Brazil, rescue teams advanced on Tuesday.
The accident happened Monday night on the highway that connects the states of Paraná and Santa Catarina, near the border with Argentina, in the municipality of Guaratuba.
The landslide cut off traffic in both directions and dragged at least 10 cars and six trucks off the highway, according to a statement.
Aerial view of the landslide on BR-376 in Guaratuba. pic.twitter.com/EArD8pMrix
— Duty 190 (@plantao190) November 29, 2022
Rescue teams have already rescued six people, but local firefighters have indicated that the number of fatalities could rise as rescue operations are still underway, amid heavy rain.
In October, heavy rains had caused the deaths of six people traveling in a vehicle swept by the current in Paraná.
About 40 cities in that state were damaged by the rain, which affected more than 22,000 people, forcing more than 2,000 to leave their homes.
URGENT – This Tuesday morning (29) a war scenario was recorded on the BR-376, in Guaratuba, Paraná. Several cars, trucks and a bus are buried.
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Follow our social network: @conexao_geoclima pic.twitter.com/fjJwXDiWu9– GeoClima connection (@ConexaoGeoClima) November 29, 2022
This year has been particularly tragic in Brazil, with thousands of people evacuated and hundreds of fatalities following strong storms in the states of Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and now Pernambuco.
At the end of May, landslides and flooding killed 128 people in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco.
In the city of Petrópolis, in the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro, a violent storm killed about 240 people in February.
Brazil is already feeling “the effects of climate change: drought, extreme temperatures and flooding,” said Edegar de Oliveira of the World Wide Fund for Nature organization in August.
In July, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned of extreme phenomena such as extreme rainfall affecting Latin America and the Caribbean.
WMO Secretary General Petteri Taalas stated that “hydrometeorological hazards such as droughts, heat and cold waves, tropical cyclones and floods have resulted in the loss of hundreds of lives, severe damage to agricultural production and infrastructure, and population displacement”.
Source: DN
