Escuche esta historia
--:--
3:35
Rescuers in Brazil continue to search for bodies of survivors
After five days, the search for bodies continues in the mud and rubble
After the heavy rain that caused large landslides in the city of Petrópolis in Brazil, the rescue team is responsible for removing bodies from the mud.
The death toll from this natural event rose to 146 people, including 26 children. Of these bodies found, only 91 of them have managed to be identified.
There is a dense fog on the site and rescuers must continue working despite it. In this search they hope to get more survivors.
At the scene of a disaster, rescuers often blow their whistles, from time to time, upon hearing some kind of sign of life.
However, authorities have warned that there is little hope of finding survivors from Tuesday's heavy rains.
In the first hours of the tragedy caused by the landslide, which dragged everything in its path, the rescue team managed to save 24 people alive.
As of Friday night, the Rio de Janeiro police reported that 218 people were missing. It is estimated that some of these people may be in unidentified bodies.
Jair Bolsonaro, president of Brazil, assured that Petrópolis suffered an impressive destruction and that it seems an "image almost of war", after having flown over the area.
This tragedy has been one of the deadliest in the country in the last three months. According to environmental specialists, they are getting worse and worse due to climate change.
Mood of the citizens
Little by little, Petrópolis, the city that was the summer capital in the 19th century, tries to return to normality.
Local workers and owners are in charge of carrying out an arduous cleaning task to try to recover what little is left. Only supermarkets and pharmacies work with a possible normality.
Sandra Correa Neto, 52, is the owner of a bookstore and declared that she had to throw a pile of books that were bogged down into the street. He assured that the water reached the ceiling of the basement, where they had a large inventory.
Correa's workers clean books to try to recover as much as they can. Likewise, the woman regrets the loss of all the books that were in the basement, since she cannot even donate them because they are very damaged.
The citizens maintain great concern for everything that has happened, in addition to the disappearance of the people they are still looking for.
Dangerous work
As rescuers carry out their search work in the ruins of a collapsed house, relatives mourn the disappearance of the mother of a family of four children. The body of the father and two of the children have been recovered.
Another group of rescuers is responsible for sharing slow progress in the excavations carried out in Alto da Serra, who have the help of some neighbors who are looking for their missing relatives.
Roberto Amaral, the coordinator of the special rescue group of the local fire department, reported that it is extremely dangerous to take an excavator of the kind that they are using near the foot of the slope.
This mountain of debris and mud is unstable according to information provided by the authorities. Therefore, the search is carried out with a chainsaw in places that are difficult to access and with certain hand tools.
donation center
Karol Cerquita, the city's social assistance secretary, reported in a statement that there is a great response of solidarity in the city, for which they are very grateful.
On one of the roads located on the outskirts of the city, a new donation collection center was set up by municipal officials.
