Victims of the Minas Gerais Brazil flash flood killed 36 people, 33 others missing

JAKARTA - At least 33 people are missing and 36 others were killed on Wednesday, February 25 after flash floods hit the state of Minas Gerais, southeast Brazil.

AP reported that the rescue team worked all night to search for the victim with an estimated heavy rain falling again in the area in the next few days.

All of the flash flood victims found so far are in the cities of Juiz de Fora and Uba, about 310 kilometers north of Rio de Janeiro.

The Minas Gerais fire department said 33 people were still missing and about 3,000 residents had been forced to leave their homes based on data Wednesday morning since the flash floods began on Tuesday, February 24 local time.

The floods also caused the potential for subsequent landslides on the roads of Juiz de Fora, a city of 560,000 people, which were covered in mud.

In Semendara, a neighboring area in Uba with a population of 107,000, almost all public activities including schools were forced to stop.

The Juiz de Fora City Hall said in a statement that about 600 families living in disaster-prone areas would be relocated to local schools serving as temporary shelters.

Mayor Margarida Salomão said that her party had recorded at least 20 landslide points in her area since heavy rain fell on Monday night.

On Tuesday local time, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on his social media that security forces had been deployed for rescue missions and to provide direct assistance to residents affected by the rain.

He also said health care teams had been sent to the area, which is located near hills, valleys and slopes.