Brazil plagued by floods, about twenty deaths and tens of thousands of displaced people

Heavy rain and floods have been lashing the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia for several weeks.

About twenty victims, currently almost 63 thousand displaced.

Two new deaths have been recorded in the last few hours in the town of Itabuna: a 21-year-old boy was swept away by the currents, a 33-year-old woman was killed in a landslide, according to reports from the local government.

"We are experiencing the biggest disaster in the history of Bahia," said Governor Rui Costa, who has been overseeing the relief operations in the affected areas since last Saturday.

According to the Civil Defense of Bahia, the number of people displaced from their homes by the flood almost doubled from Sunday to 62,796. Another 358 people have been injured since the start of the heavy rains to date.

116 municipalities are affected, at least 100 of which are currently in a state of emergency.

(Unioneonline / L)