Death toll from mudslides rises to 514 but search for survivors is hampered

THE death toll from mudslides which hit mountain settlements near Rio de Janeiro amid torrential rain has risen to 514, officials said yesterday.

Grieving survivors had to struggle down the slippery slopes with the bodies of their dead loved ones, as rescuers struggled to get to the hillside shantytowns.

Many told of entire neighbourhoods washed away, and begged for food and water to reach those still isolated by Brazil's deadliest natural disaster in four decades.

Officials said the death toll in four towns north of Rio was still rising and could jump further once rescuers reach areas cut off by Wednesday's mudslides. Hundreds of people remain missing, feared dead.

Fernando Perfista, a 31-year-old ranch hand, walked with friends for hours through the night, carrying the body of his 12-year-old son, the only one of his four children he had found. In the Fazenda Alpina area, where he lives, Mr Perfista said bodies lay scattered in the mud, with no help for the injured.

He said he found his son's body in the mud and had to put it in a fridge to keep it from dogs while he searched in vain for his other three children. Friends helped Mr Perfista haul the body to town, where the boy's funeral took place yesterday.

Speaking as he stood with scores of other dazed survivors outside a morgue in Teresopolis, he said: "My children are in there, in that river bank, under that mud."

After early rain caused delays yesterday, rescuers resumed the search for survivors from the worst natural disaster to hit Latin America's biggest nation since mudslides in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo states killed 785 people in 1967.

Amauri Souza, a 38-year-old who helped Mr Perfista carry his son's body to town, said a few helicopters had reached stricken areas but added: "They're only taking down the wounded."

He said they were not dropping off food, water or body bags, so he came to town to get help. Mr Souza said he pulled his wife and six-month-old daughter to safety when the wall of mud and water hit early Wednesday. But his wife's parents were borne away. He heard their screams as they were caught up in the mud.

"It's a scene of war and total loss," he said of the Fazenda Alpina area. "I heard my friends screaming for help in the night." Now he fears the people could die from lack of food and water, or outbreaks of disease.

Carlos Eduardo Coelho, in charge of the Rio state's health services effort in Teresopolis, said 185 people had been treated for injuries in two city hospitals, while 20 people sought treatment in a military field hospital.

He said most had minor injuries.But he feared that, with bodies contaminating water, survivors with minor injuries could develop deadly infections.

Rio state's civil defence department said 227 people died in Teresopolis, 230 in Nova Friburgo, 41 in Petropolis and another 16 in Sumidouro. It said about 14,000 were homeless.