“They were together all along and that was the case when they were found,” a tearful Sao Sebastiao resident said after rescuers discovered the bodies of his parents buried in the mud in southeastern Brazil.
• Also read: Landslides in Brazil: 44 dead and 38 missing
A recurring scene in recent days following torrential rains that have killed at least 48 people in landslides.
Torn by emotion, the visor of his black cap lowered to hide his sadness, this man with the pepper and salt beard prefers to only use his first name, Marcio.
His parents had lived for more than 30 years in their modest hilltop home in Vila do Sahy, the area of Sao Sebastiao hardest hit by the deadly storm, some 200 km from Sao Paulo.
All that’s left is a pile of bricks amid mud, boulders, and branches.
The landslides have blocked the road along the coast in several places, isolating victims who are relying on boats or helicopters for food supplies.
Dozens of firefighters, soldiers and volunteers tirelessly dig to unearth the bodies buried in an ocean of mud.
They use excavators, chainsaws to prune uprooted trees and frequency detectors to identify victims with their cell phone signal.
Almost 3,000 people live in Vila do Sahy, most of them in precarious dwellings on the hillside.
Amidst the pile of rubble, relatives of the 38 missing persons identified by the authorities’ latest assessment are awaiting the bad news that now seems inevitable.
Mason Antonio da Silva wades through the mud to keep a close eye on the work of the soldiers digging to try to find his three missing teenage nephews.
Not far away, firefighters had managed to save a baby after digging up two bodies. “A miracle,” says a rescuer who prefers to remain anonymous.
Taiara Lopes, a 26-year-old housekeeper, said she was also a miracle after finding herself buried up to her shoulders in mud in her kitchen.
“I was sinking, but I grabbed a branch and my husband finally pulled me out. Then we went out through the roof,” says the young woman with her legs covered in scrapes and bruises.
But the more time passes, the less the victims hope for a miracle.
“Access is difficult because the houses are very close together and there is a lot of concrete mixed with mud,” says Rodrigo de Paula, a fire brigade captain.
Elenilson Batista Gomes, 47, still has no news of her son Caio and daughter-in-law Michelle, who wed just four months ago.
“I won’t leave until we find her. I want to give my son and his wife a dignified burial,” he said.
Four sniffer dogs are active in an area where about ten houses stood. Thanks to them, the firefighters manage to dig up the body of a man pinched against a wall and two others under an uprooted tree.
Natalia Cerqueira, a 25-year-old volunteer, has been helping rescue workers for three days. But she feels “useless”.
“We remove the mud, we dig up bodies and the number keeps growing, it never stops,” complains the cook in a school canteen.
Maria Vidal, 50, knew many victims who weren’t “lucky” like her to survive the mudslide that went up the hill right outside her door.
“I was shaking like a leaf, the only thing I could do was really hug my grandson tight.”
“I keep seeing pictures of dead kids,” she says, somehow trying to hide her distress at her four-year-old grandson playing with a Superman figure.
Lucas da Rocha, 31, father of two little girls, is also inconsolable: he has lost several close friends.
“I’m waiting for the road to open to go with my family. More landslides could happen at any time,” he warns. It is not possible to live in constant fear.”