Mudslides kill several people in Brazil

A huge slab of hillside loosened by torrential rain collapsed on Friday and buried three houses and an upmarket tourist lodge at a resort near Rio de Janeiro, killing at least 19 people, Brazilian authorities said.

The Pousada Sankay resort is near the city of Angra dos Reis, 168 kilometers (105 miles) from Rio.

Another mudslide elsewhere in the state of Rio de Janeiro killed 11.

Ten people were injured by the resort slide early on Friday, and about 120 rescuers scrambled through mud and around uprooted trees and large rocks to search for more survivors.

Police helicopters and navy vessels helped in the rescue effort.

In addition to the two deadly mudslides in Angra dos Reis, local authorities said nearly 80 mudslides were reported throughout the region, toppling trees and destroying power lines.

Rain-related deaths in Rio de Janeiro state from three days of heavy rains reached 50, officials said, and more rain was predicted across the region.

The rains prompted President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to briefly interrupt his vacation in northeastern Brazil for an emergency meeting with civil defence authorities.

The mudslide at the Pousada Sankay resort apparently happened after tourists had returned to their rooms following the New Year's celebration at the lodge on Ilha Grande, a 90-minute ferry ride from Angra dos Reis on the mainland, according to the fire department commander.

Police said some of the dead may have been in their houses. They did not immediately release the identities or nationalities of the victims.

One employee at the resort said she helped some of the victims after stones came down from the hillside.

"They fell on four young men and they screamed for help and we were helping the victims which had pretty bad (injuries)," she added.

One family member feared for her loved ones.

"My daughter and my grandson and my son in law, they were all inside," she said.

A coroner told Brazilian broadcaster Globo TV that a boy and a teenage girl were among the victims, which also included at least three men and three women.

A bulldozer was brought in to help in the search for survivors.

Bodies recovered from the rubble were being transported off the island by boats and helicopters and the injured were receiving medical treatment in Rio.

Authorities said the search was expected to continue throughout the night.

Witnesses told local media the hillside lodge and the houses, which can only be accessed by boat, collapsed after being struck by a slab of earth nearly 300 metres (330 yards) wide.

Wooden pieces of the lodge were seen floating near the shore and on the beach.

The hotel, which advertises nightly rates of about 200 US dollars and can accommodate 50 guests, was reportedly full. The lodge was inaugurated in 1994, according to its Web site.

Local officials in Angra dos Reis declared three days of mourning and cancelled the city's annual celebration scheduled for Wednesday.

Other mudslides killed 20 people across Rio de Janeiro state on Thursday, mostly in shanties collapsed under mud or rain in the greater Rio de Janeiro city area