At least eight people were killed, including four girls, as a result of the collapse of a hill that buried a neighborhood in the eastern zone Manaus, capital of the state of Amazonas, northern Brazil, reported a spokesman for the fire department.
The tragedy occurred due to heavy rains and the accumulation of household waste in the eastern part of Manaus, according to authorities.
“The large accumulation of garbage that was in the neighborhood, plus the heavy rains, caused the landslides”David Almeida, mayor of Manaus
The event occurred last night in the Nova Floresta neighborhood, a poor community installed in precarious conditions in a risk area landslides in Manaus, the most populous city in the South American Amazon jungle region.
The rains in Brazil this summer caused more than two hundred victims throughout the country.
avalanches
The most serious event so far this year occurred in February and caused 64 deaths. It was in the coastal municipality of Sao Sebastiao, in the state of São Paulo, as a result of avalanches that buried precarious neighborhoods in risk areas.
The mayor of Manaus, David Almeida, reported that Civil Defense had not been alerted about problems in that neighborhood.
“The information we have is that the large accumulation of garbage that was in the neighborhood plus the heavy rains caused the landslides,” he explained to the Bandeirantes news channel.
The Minister of Integration and Regional Development, Waldez Goes, reported that at least there are 4 million Brazilians residing in risk areas due to lack of housing solutions in 14,000 points considered critical, especially in favelas built on hillsides with the possibility of landslides due to tropical rains.
