An eight-year-old schoolboy is among 10 dead after a horror landslide caused by torrential rain swept through Brazil.
Rescue services in the Minas Gerais state said Sunday that nine people died in the city of Ipatinga, where 3.1 inches of rain fell in the space of one hour on Saturday night.
Firefighters then tragically pulled the body of an eight-year-old boy from the rubble of a house destroyed by a landslide.
Also among the deceased victims was an elderly woman, aged 70, and a 30-year-old man, according to Diário do Centro do Mundo.
Another landslide swept away everything in its path along a street on the side of a hill in the city’s Bethania neighborhood.
Heartbreaking images from the scene showed rubble from the houses poking up from the thick river of mud that has consumed the area.
As of Sunday evening, one person from Bethania remained missing, though four members of the person’s family were rescued.
A body was also found in the nearby town of Santana do Paraiso, located one hour away from the city of Ipatinga.
Rescue services in the Minas Gerais state said Sunday that nine people died in the city of Ipatinga, where 3.1 inches of rain fell in the space of one hour on Saturday night
Houses were left buried under a river of muddy water following torrential rains
Rescue teams work on a landslide site at Bethania neighborhood, Ipatinga, Minas Gerais state, Brazil on January 12, 2025
Landslides caused by torrential rains in southeast Brazil have left at least ten people dead and others missing, rescue services in Minas Gerais state said January 12
The city’s mayor Gustavo Nunes, said in a press conference: ‘It wasn’t just the rainfall in the last few hours, it rained practically every day in the last month, which left the ground wet.
‘We had a very high number of landslides in several neighborhoods’.
According to Globo, the city has declared a State of Public Calamity for 180 days.
The decree will allow for the adoption of emergency measures to assist victims and mitigate the damage caused by the tragedy.
It will authorise the mobilisation of agencies, hiring of personnel, and acquisition of emergency resources.
The decree also includes the possibility of accessing private properties to carry out relief operations.
The National Institute of Meteorology (INMET) maintains the alert in both municipalities due to forecasts of heavy rains for the next few days.
Minas Gerais state governor Romeu Zema sent a message of ‘solidarity with the victims’ in a statement on social media.
He stated he would travel to Ipatinga to inspect the work being carried out to assist the families of victims, homeless people and displaced residents.
‘I spoke with Mayor Gustavo Nunes and made the state fully available. I will be there by tomorrow morning at the latest. And here is my request: during this rainy season, look for safe places and count on the support of Civil Defense,’ Zema said.
The National Institute of Meteorology (INMET) forecasts heavy rains for the next few days
Another landslide swept away everything in its path along a street on the side of a hill in the city’s Bethania neighborhood
In total, 67 military personnel and 16 vehicles from the Fire Department and Military Police are involved in the rescue operations, according to local reports
Residents recover belongings from a landslide site at Bethania neighborhood, Ipatinga
According to Globo , the city has declared a State of Public Calamity for 180 days
According to Paraina Online, the municipal stadium has been made available to house the displaced and is receiving donations.
‘At the moment we are not in need of clothing donations, but of mineral water, food, personal hygiene and cleaning products to distribute to affected families,’ Nunes said.
Regarding the reported lack of warning to the population before the heavy rain, the mayor stated that the rain took everyone by surprise.
‘There was no forecast to warn us, it happened in the early hours of the morning and started at 3am in a more intense way,’ he said.
Nunes also stated that in one neighborhood of the city, when the rain intensified, residents managed to flee their homes before they collapsed.
In total, 67 military personnel and 16 vehicles from the Fire Department and Military Police are involved in the rescue operations.
There are also three teams from Civil Defense, as per local reports.
Latin America’s biggest country has been rocked by several extreme weather events over the past year.
Massive floods caused by days of record-breaking rain killed more than 180 people in the south of the country in April and May.
Brazil also suffered a historic drought linked to climate change, laying the ground for the worst wildfires in 17 years, which consumed vast chunks of the Amazon rainforest.
