Authorities had reported eight dead and two injured earlier in the day, but the death toll rose as fire services reached more remote areas.

    Three members of the same family died in Itaipava, a mountain town 70 km from state capital Rio de Janeiro. They were two brothers aged 5 and 12 and their 73-year-old grandmother.

    Most of the victims were in the hillside neighborhood of Madame Machado, where rains caused landslips and flooding. Some of the dead were buried alive in their homes. A car was also buried in the landslides.

    The Itaipava mayor's office has released 500,000 reales (nearly286,000 U.S. dollars) to help families hit by the rains. The neighborhoods of Estrada do Gentio, Estrada das Arcas and Benfica were also affected.

    The Civil Defense authority said the equivalent of three weeks worth of rain had fallen in just a few hours.

    "To give you an idea, 13 mm of water an hour fell on neighboring Petropolis and in Itaipava more than 135mm fell in less than an hour. It was a completely extreme situation and that is why there were deaths," said Colonel Jose Sant' Ana Mateus, from the state's Civil Defense Authority.

    Fire crews used boats to rescue residents from their flooded homes. The rains also destroyed nearly 1 km of the Petropolis-Teresopolis Highway.     (Jan.4)

Editor: Xu Hui