SAO PAULO (AP) — The floods and mudslides that hit Rio de Janeiro state last week apparently represent this country’s deadliest natural disaster since 1900.
The Brazilian Civil Defense Department says on its website that the death toll from slides triggered by deluges in mountain towns just north of the city of Rio has risen to 791.
The Rio de Janeiro public prosecutor’s office says that 430 people are listed as missing.
Both agencies released the information Saturday.
According to the Brussels-based International Disaster Database, the previous highest death toll in a natural disaster in Brazil was registered in 1967 when floods killed 785 in and around the city of Rio de Janeiro.
