Torrential rains lashing southeastern Brazil have killed at least 28 people, including 13 buried in a landslide, according to an updated official death toll released Tuesday.
Five more bodies were found Tuesday under the rubble of collapsed buildings in Rio de Janeiro state's northern Sapucaia municipality, bringing to 13 the number fatalities from Monday's landslide.
Colonel Sergio Simoes, the head of the local fire department, said Monday that six adults and two children were found dead in the area.
A family of five who took refuge in a car during the landslide were still unaccounted for, officials said.
The heavy rains and ensuing flooding are mainly affecting the southeastern states of Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo and Minas Gerais, where thousands of people have been evacuated.
Late Sunday, authorities began evacuating 900 people in Rio de Janeiro state's northern town of Outeiro after a local dike gave way.
The evacuees were being sheltered in schools, tents or by relatives.
The incident occurred in the same area where on Thursday 4,000 people were evacuated after floodwaters fed by torrential rains caused another dike to burst.
Only a year ago, floods and landslides left more than 1,300 people dead or missing in the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro state.
