RIO DE JANEIRO - Torrential rains lashing south-eastern Brazil have killed at least 28 people, including 13 buried in a landslide, according to an updated official death toll.
Five more bodies were found yesterday under the rubble of collapsed buildings in Rio de Janeiro state's northern Sapucaia municipality, bringing to 13 the number fatalities from Monday's landslide.
Colonel Sergio Simoes, the head of the local fire department, said on Monday that six adults and two children were found dead in the area.
A family of five who took refuge in a car during the landslide were still unaccounted for, officials said.
The heavy rains and ensuing flooding are mainly affecting the south-eastern states of Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo and Minas Gerais, where thousands of people have been evacuated.
Late Sunday, authorities began evacuating 900 people in Rio de Janeiro state's northern town of Outeiro after a dike gave way.
The evacuees were being sheltered in schools, tents or by relatives.
The incident occurred in the same area where on Thursday 4000 people were evacuated after floodwaters fed by torrential rains caused another dike to burst.
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