THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: More than 370 people have died and hundreds are feared dead as a result of floods and mudslides in Brazil in the worst natural disaster to hit the country for decades.
Three towns situated in the mountains north of Rio de Janeiro were devastated after up to 10 inches of rain - the equivalent of a month's rainfall - fell in 24 hours.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing cars, animals and human corpses carried away by torrents of water, while bodies recovered were stored in schools and churches.
Survivors in the towns of Nova Friburgo, Teresopolis and Petropolis tried desperately to claw away mud with their hands in a search for signs of life after the mudslides struck at around 3am (5am GMT) on Wednesday.
"We were like zombies, covered in mud, in the dark, digging and digging," said Geisa Carvalho, 19, of Teresopolis.
"The recovery of bodies doesn't seem to end," added Ricardo Figueiredo, 52, who has spent his summers in the area since he was born. "If you walk through the streets you see only expressions of desperation, people shouting, stretchers passing by." >>> Robin Yapp, São Paulo | Thursday, January 13, 2011
THE INDEPENDENT: Hundreds killed in Brazil floods and mudslides >>> AP | Thursday, January 13, 2011
