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Dam
Break Kills Four, Displaces 2,500
in Brazil
Dam break kills four, displaces 2,500
in Brazil
Rio de Janeiro - At least
four people, including two teenagers, died
after the break of a dam in the small town
of Cocal da Estacao in Brazil's northeastern
Piaui state, local civil defense authorities
said Thursday.
At least 2,500 people were left homeless by
the dam break, which according to the
authorities was caused by constant rainfall
in the past month. The water of the Pirangi
River flooded an area of 50 square
kilometers and destroyed about 500 houses.
Piaui state governor Wellington Dias visited
the site of the disaster, saying the scene
is "terrible."
"I have seen dead animals, houses with their
roofs down, dead horses and cattle, fridges
on trees," he said.
The dam started showing cracks about a month
ago. The government said that it authorized
the repair service and evacuated the
families in the nearby areas, which
prevented an even worse tragedy.
"Twenty-five days ago the families at the
site were taken away, with 10,000 from (the
towns of) Cocal and Buriti dos Lopes. Some
families later returned home, because there
was a reduction in the rain," said the
governor.
The rain in northern and northeastern Brazil
in the past weeks has already killed at
least 50 people and left over 500,000 people
homeless, 90,000 of them in Piaui state.
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