Landslides, floods kill dozens in northeast Brazil

Landslides caused by heavy rains killed at least 29 people in the state of Pernambuco in northeast Brazil on Saturday, authorities said.

In Alagoas, another state in the region, two people died when they were swept away in river flooding on Friday. More than 1,000 people have been forced to leave their homes because of the flooding in Pernambuco, civil defense officials said.

The executive secretary of the civil defense agency in Pernambuco, Lt. Col. Leonardo Rodrigues, said that about 32,000 families live in areas at risk of landslides or flooding in the state.

Schools in the city of Recife have been opened to receive the homeless. President Jair Bolsonaro said on Twitter that teams from the Ministry of Regional Development and the Armed Forces will be sent to the state and also to Alagoas for "relief and humanitarian assistance."