Picture by: Reuters

Several houses in Rio state were enveloped in mud after heavy rain that have caused at least 32 deaths. The mudslide also struck a small luxury hotel, Hotel Sankay, killing at least 15 people and leaving 35 more missing.

Rio’s deputy governor Luiz Fernando Pezao said, “It is a vision of horror, a mountain of rocks and trees covering it”.

Firefighters dug for survivors saturday but only found corpses under red earth and crushed lodgings in Southeastern Brazil. Crews using heavy machinery, rescue dogs, helicopters and boats took advantage of improved weather on Sunday to hunt for any survivors.

Authorities said that 66 people died in slides or flooding in Rio de Janeiro state, three in Minas Gerais state and six in the Sao Paulo state city of Cunha.

A civil defense spokeswoman said 2 bodies were recovered in the Carioca slum, where 15 people died, and 2 on the Ilha Grande island, where at least 29 died when a hillside collapsed on a vacation resort and neighboring houses.

Twenty areas in Angra dos Reis was still at risk of mudslides and he said some people were being evacuated.