At least 13 dead due to heavy rains in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO - At least 13 people were killed by mudslides after heavy rains hit the metropolitan region of Recife, in the northeastern state of Pernambuco in Brazil, local authorities said on Wednesday.

The Pernambuco fire department confirmed five deaths in Recife, three in Olinda and five in Abreu e Lima.

Among the dead are a 15-year-old boy and a 21-year-old woman.

The heavy rain, which began falling in the late hours of Tuesday, caused large floods, fallen trees and mudslides in several towns, and disrupted Recife's metropolitan area, inhabited by some four million people.

Landslides were also recorded in Jaboatao dos Guararapes, but causing no casualties.

In the municipality of Caetes, one was rescued from the rubble by local emergency service, the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reported.

Local authorities suspended classes in public schools.

According to Recife's civil defense, 101 millimeters of rainfall was recorded over a six-hour period. That volume amounts to eight days of rain in this time of the year.

The meteorological services forecast that the rain is to continue in the next few days.