Tornado kills six, wrecks town in Brazil / Photo: Handout - Parana State Government/AFP
Tornado kills six, wrecks town in Brazil
A tornado killed at least six people and injured more than 400 as it destroyed most of a town in southern Brazil, authorities said Saturday.
The twister on Friday evening flipped cars like toys and wrecked buildings in Rio Bonito do Iguacu, a town of 14,000 people in Parana state, the local weather service reported.
The storm lasted only minutes but hit with hail and ferocious winds swirling at up to 250 km per hour (155 miles).
"It destroyed everything. It destroyed the town, houses, schools. What will become of us?" said Roselei Dalcandon as she stood by a pile of rubble that used to be her shop.
The tornado killed at least six people and injured 432, the Parana state government said. Two people are missing but this number could rise, officials said.
Civil Defense officials said 90 percent of the town suffered some damage.
Images on social media showed many homes with their roof ripped off or totally destroyed.
Rescue teams searched through piles of rubble looking for survivors or bodies. A shelter was set up in a nearby town.
"It is a war scene," Fernando Schunig, head of the Parana Civil Defense agency, told the news outlet G1.
He said the likelihood of more fatalities is high because the twister hit the center of the town.
"When these events hit an urban area, the damage is major. It is very lethal," Schunig said.
The governor of Parana, Ratinho Junior, said on X that "security forces are on alert, mobilized and monitoring the cities affected by the severe storms."
An alert for dangerous storms was in effect for all of Parana as well as the southern states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, according to weather authorities.
O.Merendino--PV
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