Rescue workers in Brazil were searching for two people, including a six-year-old girl, on Tuesday after a landslide in the northern state of Amazonas injured a dozen others.
Monday’s landslide caused the collapse of a port on the Solimoes River, a tributary of the Amazon, in the municipality of Manacapuru, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the capital Manaus.
Manacapuru police officer Mauro Soares said rescuers were searching the rubble and river for a man in his mid-30s and a girl aged six.
Ten people were injured, two of whom were still being treated in hospital for their injuries on Tuesday.
Images obtained by AFP showed some buildings teetering on the edge of a huge crater formed where the land collapsed into the river.
Authorities have not disclosed the possible causes of the landslide.
But they warned that a severe drought in Brazil’s Amazon could cause riverbanks to collapse and trigger a “natural disaster.”
Deputy Civil Protection Minister Clovis Araujo advised communities along the rivers to implement “contingency plans” to prevent further tragedies.
Brazil has suffered recurring landslides and floods in recent years due to extreme weather events blamed on climate change.
Nearly nine million of Brazil’s 215 million residents live in areas at risk of landslides or flooding, according to official figures.
rsr/cb/no
