BSP-32 Seven dead in Brazil floods

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ZCZC

BSP-32

BRAZIL-WEATHER-FLOOD

Seven dead in Brazil floods

SAO PAULO, March 11, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Floods caused by torrential rains
in and around Brazil’s financial hub Sao Paulo killed seven people overnight,
firefighters said Monday.

“We regret the unfortunate deaths of seven people,” the fire service said
on Twitter, adding that four others were injured.

Four of the dead and two of the injured were members of the same family,
whose house collapsed in Riberao Pires on the outskirts of Brazil’s largest
city, located in the southeast of the country.

Three others drowned, two of them on a Sao Paulo boulevard and the other
in Sao Bernardo do Campo, not far from the huge city, officials said.

The late summer rains submerged several neighborhoods and blocked major
arteries into the metropolis, cutting train and bus services in some areas.

Mudslides also occurred in some parts of the sprawling metropolis, with
more heavy rain forecast for later Monday.

BSS/AFP/BZC/2105HRS