- One truck is seen hanging precariously over the side of a bridge in aerial footage.
- The mayor of Guaratuba, Roberto Justus, says it is a “miracle” he survived.
- The second victim’s name has not yet been made public.
One truck is seen hanging precariously over the side of a bridge in aerial footage. The vehicle’s driver, Joo Pires, age 62, was found dead by rescue personnel.
A relative claimed he had driven lorries for the whole of his life and was familiar with the road where the accident occurred.
The second victim’s name has not yet been made public.
A second truck driver who had his cab submerged in the muck was recovered with only minor wounds. The 43-year-old José Altair Biscaia used his phone to record a video of himself while he was confined.
“I’m alive, thank God. I’m in the middle of the mud, just in a little corner which is left of the lorry. I’m full of cuts. but I’m alive,” he can be heard saying in the footage.
There are blood stains and a mangled appearance inside his taxi. There appears to be a wall of solid mud outside the window.
Six survivors have been found so far. Roberto Justus, the mayor of the coastal city of Guaratuba, is one of them.
In a video uploaded to social media after his rescue, Mr. Justus said it was “a miracle” he was alive.
He told local radio station Rádio Gaúcha that he and his driver, Cláudio Margarida, had broken the windows of their car to get out.
“A sea of mud, trees, branches hit the door of the car. I was on the passenger seat and the impact was such that our car was lifted. The mud kept coming and coming and lifting us until we were on top of the vehicles on the opposite carriageway,” he recalled.
Days of persistently heavy rain in Paraná caused the mudslide.
In Brazil, landslides frequently occur, and when muddy mountainsides collapse, hillside settlements are frequently swept away.
In the Rio state town of Petrópolis in February, landslides claimed the lives of almost 200 people.
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