RIO DE JANEIRO: Flash floods caused by heavy rain in Rio de Janeiro killed four people and caused major traffic snares Thursday after sweeping through residential areas, local media reported.
Globo News said a 12-year-old and a police officer were among the dead. Two adults were also reportedly killed in a mudslide.
The fire department did not immediately respond for confirmation of the toll.
The flooding followed dramatic rainstorms overnight accompanied by lightning and high wind. Residential streets, including in impoverished favelas, were inundated and a stretch of the coastal cycling path built ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics collapsed.
Major highways were partially blocked, leading to traffic jams.
Globo showed dramatic footage of water gushing down narrow streets, carrying away a car, while a man on a motorcycle struggled to try and escape the deluge.
Authorities said that in the west of Rio, the rain usually expected for the whole of February fell in one night.
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