RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- At least seven people died and 16 others are still missing in the southeastern Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais state, after unusually heavy rainfall, authorities announced on Saturday.
According to the regional coordinator of civil defense of the state, 2,554 people were forced to evacuate the area and 791 are now homeless due to the rains.
The seven dead were found in Belo Horizonte city as well as the metropolitan areas of Ibirite and Betim, authorities said.
Brazil's National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet) said that Belo Horizonte experienced on Friday its highest amount of rainfall in the past 110 years.
According to Inmet, the city registered an accumulation of 171.8 millimeters of rainfall in about 24 hours.
