SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 5 December 2024, Thursday |

Death toll in canyon wall collapse in southeastern Brazil rises to 10

The death toll in southeastern Brazil, where a canyon wall collapsed on speedboats in a lake, rose to 10 on Sunday, according to local authorities.

The Minas Gerais Fire Department said in a statement that the bodies of two more people who were missing were found.

Officials also said that search and rescue efforts were ended.

The slab of rock that broke off from a cliff into Lago de Furnas, near the city of Capitolio, hit four boats and sank two on Saturday, with footage of the incident going viral on social media.

Fire department spokesman Pedro Aihara told the local television channel EPTV that some who had been missing were located after contacting state hospitals.

Many of the victims were hospitalized and 20 were listed missing because there was no cross-listing, added Aihara.

The rockslide occurred “due to heavy rains, which caused the loosening of a wall of stones in Lago de Furnas, in Capitolio,” Minas Governor Romeu Zema had said on Twitter.

The country’s navy will launch an investigation into the incident.