The macabre discoveries continue in Petropolis.

The death toll from the floods and landslides that devastated the Brazilian city after torrential rains now stands at 165, authorities announced on Sunday February 20.

So far 124 bodies have been identified, including those of 28 children.

Fresh storms have claimed at least two lives, emergency services in Espirito Santo state, which borders Rio de Janeiro state, where Petropolis is located, reported.

One person was crushed to death by a collapsing wall in the town of Alegre and another was washed away while trying to recover a car in the town of Nova Venecia, authorities said.

Orange-clad rescue workers and residents searching for missing relatives continue to dig through piles of mud and debris in this southeastern city of 300,000, which Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has described as "a theater of war".

The number of missing has fallen as more bodies have been identified and families have found loved ones alive, police say, but the final toll, which continues to climb, remains uncertain.

Authorities said it was now unlikely that any survivors would be pulled from the rubble.

Deadly torrential rains

Pope Francis sent his condolences on Sunday after his Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.

"I express my closeness to those affected in recent days by natural disasters," he said, citing "devastated" Petropolis and Madagascar, recently hit by deadly cyclones.

"Lord, receive the dead in peace, comfort their family members, and sustain those who offer help."

The violent thunderstorm that hit Petropolis, located 60 km north of Rio de Janeiro, on Tuesday is the latest in a series of deadly rains to hit Brazil, which experts believe are aggravated by climate change.

Over the past three months, more than 200 people have died in torrential rains, mainly in the states of Sao Paulo (southeast) and Bahia (northeast), as well as in Petropolis.

With AFP

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