Brazil mudslide death toll reaches 105, with dozens missing
Petropolis (Brazil), Feb 17: Rio de Janeiro state's government has confirmed 105 deaths from floods and mudslides that swept away homes and cars in the city of Petropolis. But even as families prepared to bury their dead, it was unclear Thursday how many bodies remained trapped in the mud.
Rubens Bomtempo, mayor of the German-influenced city nestled in the mountains, didn't even offer an estimate for the number of people missing, with recovery efforts still ongoing.
We don't yet know the full scale of this, Bomtempo said at a news conference Wednesday. It was a hard day, a difficult day.
Survivors were digging to find loved ones who disappeared after Tuesday's landslides. Rio de Janeiro's public prosecutors' office said in a statement Wednesday night that it had compiled a list of 35 people yet to be located.
Footage posted on social media showed torrents dragging cars and houses through the streets and water swirling through the city. One video showed two buses sinking into a swollen river as its passengers clambered out the windows, scrambling for safety. Some didn't make it to the banks and were washed away, out of sight.
On Wednesday morning, houses were left buried beneath mud while appliances and cars were in piles on the streets.
Resident Rosilene Virginia's brother barely escaped, and she considers it a miracle. A friend hasn't yet been found.
It's very sad to see people asking for help and having no way of helping, no way of doing anything, Virginia told The Associated Press as a man comforted her. It's desperate, a feeling of loss so great.
Petropolis, named for a former Brazilian emperor, has been a refuge for people escaping the summer heat and tourists keen to explore the so-called Imperial City .
Its prosperity has also drawn residents from Rio's poorer regions and the population grew haphazardly, climbing mountainsides now covered with small residences packed tightly together, often in areas made more vulnerable by deforestation and inadequate drainage.
The state fire department said 25.8 cm (just over 10 inches) of rain fell within three hours on Tuesday -- almost as much as during the previous 30 days combined. Rio de Janeiro's Governor Claudio Castro said in a press conference that the rains were the worst Petropolis has received since 1932.
No one could predict rain as hard as this, Castro said. More rain was expected through the rest of the week, according to weather forecasters.
Castro added that almost 400 people were left homeless and 24 people were recovered alive. They were fortunate, and they were few.
Lisa Torres Machado, 64, said the hand of God spared her family from tragedy.
A little room was left at my mom's house and she hid there with my two sisters and brother, Machado, a resident of Petropolis for three decades, told the AP. I can't sleep. I still can't believe what's happening. We lost all our friends.
The stricken mountain region has seen similar catastrophes in recent decades, including one that caused more than 900 deaths. In the years since, Petropolis presented a plan to reduce risks of landslides, but works have advanced only slowly. The plan, presented in 2017, was based on analysis determining that 18% of the city's territory was at high risk for landslides and flooding.
Local authorities say more than 180 residents who live in at-risk areas were sheltering in schools. More equipment and manpower was expected to help rescue efforts on Thursday.
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro expressed solidarity while on a trip to Russia. Petropolis' city hall declared three days of mourning for the tragedy.
Southeastern Brazil has been punished with heavy rains since the start of the year, with more than 40 deaths recorded between incidents in Minas Gerais state in early January and Sao Paulo state later the same month.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Hubballi (Karnataka), May 20: Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Monday said the probe into the sensational killing of a woman, Anjali Ambigera, over the rejection of a marriage proposal in this district, would be handed over to the CID.
The Minister met the family of the 20-year-old woman at their residence and assured justice to them.
He said the case will be handed over to CID for further investigation.
Anjali Ambigera was stabbed multiple times at her home at Veerapur Oni here on May 15. Two days after the incident, the 22-year-old accused -- Girish Sawanth -- was arrested from Davanagere, according to the police.
Distressed over Anjali's brutal murder, her sister Yashoda recently attempted to end her life, their grandmother Gangamma Ambigera had said.
ALSO READ: 'Phones of my family and supporters being tapped,' HD Kumaraswamy alleges; govt denies it
Parameshwara offered condolences to the grieving family and assured justice for Anjali.
"We are going to hand it (case) over to the CID for further investigation," he told reporters here.
After meeting the Home Minister, Anjali's grandmother Gangamma said she pressed for the death penalty for the accused in the case.
The minister also assured compensation and a house for the family after the Lok Sabha elections, she said.
"We have been promised justice by the government. We want the accused to be hanged. The Home Minister assured that the case will be investigated thoroughly and punishment will be given to the accused as per law. We have faith in the minister's promise," she told reporters here.
Anjali's family had said they had complained to the police that the accused had threatened her saying she would meet the same fate as 23-year-old college student Neha Hiremath, who was stabbed to death by a former classmate on her college campus in Hubballi on April 18.
Meanwhile, Parameshwara also visited the residence of Neha, daughter of Congress Councillor Niranjan, and offered condolences to the family.
He said that owing to the elections, he could not visit but as soon as he got to know about Neha's murder and added that he instructed the officials concerned to take appropriate action. Complete information of the case has been obtained, he said.
Neha's father said the investigation of the case was getting delayed and demanded that the probe be completed at the earliest and the accused be hanged.
Niranjan also cited Anjali's murder and said that people have lost faith in the police and appealed to the government to take a tough stand so that such "unpleasant" incidents do not occur in future.
The Home Minister said the investigation into this case has already been entrusted to the CID and they were investigating from all possible angles.
"Investigation will be completed as soon as possible, and justice will be provided. If anyone else is involved in this case along with the accused, I will inform the investigating officers about it, and if they are found to be guilty, action will be taken against them," he assured the family.
Referring to both these incidents, he said, "Because of the model code of conduct, the government cannot give any assurance as far as some support is concerned to both the families. We will definitely do it after the model code of conduct period."
When asked about the allegations by the BJP about the "deteriorating law and order" situation in Karnataka, the Home Minister denied them and told reporters, "It is not true. We have conducted so many festivals in Karnataka without any disturbances and parliamentary elections also went off peacefully."
"In the last one year, there has been no incident of communal violence in Karnataka in any city... In all scenarios in Karnataka, no law and order failure has happened," he claimed.
"I do agree that murders have happened in numbers and this has happened during BJP's time as well. So it is not that only Congress's time murders have happened. We are serious about bringing down this..(murders). We are trying to educate people. Many of them (murders) are domestic in nature or because of property and various other reasons, he said.
The Home Minister said they will try to sensitise the police force and bring down this number of murders in the state.
