Swiss send aid experts to flood hit Brazil
Switzerland is sending a team of humanitarian experts to Brazil which is grappling with one of its worst natural disasters following days of torrential rains.
The foreign ministry said three specialists will travel to a region north of Rio de Janeiro where floods and landslides killed at least 600 people.
The experts will try to assess urgent needs and possible prevention measures notably in the mountainous Nova Friburgo principality, which was founded by Swiss emigrants in 1819.
The ministry added that Switzerland has traditionally had close ties with the region which has an estimated population of 180,000.
The Swiss authorities in Rio say they have no reports to date of casualties among the more than 200 Swiss expatriates in the area.
The Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, pledged emergency aid for the hardest-hit regions amid growing criticism of the authorities’ slow response.
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