SAO PAULO, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- At least two people were killed and a firefighter is missing after heavy rains caused flooding and landslides in Santa Catarina state in southern Brazil, according to the local fire department and regional civil defense office on Thursday.
One man died in a landslide that destroyed his home in the city of Brusque, and another was fatally electrocuted while crossing a flooded street in Palhoca, a town next to the state capital Florianopolis.
Meanwhile, a firefighter went missing when his boat sank off the coast of the seaside resort of Navegantes in Santa Catarina.
More than 600 people were evacuated from their homes in the state that borders Argentina.
Previously on Tuesday, rescuers were searching for people believed to be buried under tons of mud in the neighboring state of Parana after a landslide on Monday hit a highway in the city of Guaratuba.
According to information issued on Wednesday by the Parana authorities, two people died, some 30 were reported missing, and six were rescued after the landslide dragged 16 vehicles off a cliff in a difficult-to-access mountain region. ■
