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| Landslide along a river in the Amazon, a picture of disaster in Brazil |
Disaster in Manacapuru, in the metropolitan area of Manaus, where on Monday a landslide swallowed a large part of the port under construction of Terra Preta , causing a large crater on the banks of the Solimões river, the headwaters of the Amazon River.
According to official sources, around 200 people could have been involved in the collapse. Civil Protection, which intervened with firefighters in the area, confirmed the disappearance of a little girl . This was announced by the Secretary of State for Public Security, Marcus Vinicius Oliveira de Almeida. The family lived in a houseboat that sank in the water. “The father managed to save the three other children who were with him, but unfortunately he could not take the little girl away,” said Almeida: “She could have been buried, but we are working on the best hypothesis: we hope that she is not under the rubble and that she is, on the contrary, along the river or somewhere where we can find her alive.”
The cause of the landslide is not yet known. Construction work is underway at the site, but the port remains operational and is a busy hub for the transport of goods and passengers, local sources said.
The disaster may be linked to riverbank erosion, a phenomenon known locally as “terras caídas” (landslides) and triggered by the severe drought that is affecting the Amazon region. The Solimões River is currently at its lowest point in history .
Rivers in the Amazon rainforest are experiencing their worst drought in Brazil since at least the 1950s, according to data recently released by the Brazilian Disaster Monitoring Agency (Cemaden).
Satellite image provided by Planet Lab Inc. in recent days have shown the impact of extreme drought in the Tefe, Coari, Manacapuru and Manaus waterways. Below-average rainfall – even during the rainy season – has hit the Amazon and much of South America since last year, also fueling the worst forest fires in more than a decade in Brazil and Bolivia.
According to researchers, climate change is the main cause of this phenomenon. Scientists fear that the Amazon region may not fully recover normal moisture levels before 2026.