RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – The death toll from heavy rains in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul now stands at 143 dead and 131 missing, local authorities announced on Sunday.
The government announced on Saturday evening that it had released 12.1 billion reals (more than 2 billion euros) to deal with the floods which caused the displacement of 537,000 people in the state, populated by 10.9 million inhabitants. .
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the state will work to rebuild what was destroyed.
“We know that everything cannot be rebuilt, mothers have lost their children and children have lost their mothers,” Lula said on X, on the occasion of Mother’s Day in Brazil.
US President Joe Biden offered his condolences in a statement on Sunday, adding that his administration was in contact with the Brazilian government to provide assistance.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this tragedy and the teams who are helping families and providing medical care,” Biden said.
(Fabio Teixeira; Zhifan Liu for the French version)
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