Rio hotel turns horror as landslides kill 63

Picture taken on Saturday shows the area where a landslide buried a hotel on January 1, in Praia do Bananal, Ilha Grande, Angra dos Reis, southwest of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Brazilian rescue workers dug for survivors Saturday after a mudslide buried a luxury hotel filled with New Year's revellers on an island near Rio, killing at least 63 and leaving many others missing. Photo: AFP

Rescuers pulled more bodies from an avalanche of thick mud and rock that buried a luxury Brazilian hotel filled with New Year's revellers, as the death toll from heavy rains in the south of the country rose to 63.
Twenty-eight people were killed in the tragedy at the hotel on Ilha Grande -- a resort island southwest of Rio -- and another six people injured.
State officials said another landslide in the nearby city of Angra dos Reis, south of Rio, left at least 13 people dead, part of a series of mudslides brought on by incessant rains that have killed at least 63 people across the state of Rio de Janeiro since Wednesday and left dozens missing.
Authorities said the Hotel Sankay was full to capacity with about 40 guests, including children, ringing in the New Year at the idyllic seaside getaway on Bananal beach.
The complex is nestled at the bottom of a jungle-covered hillside, which gave way before dawn Friday on New Year's Day, transforming the tourist paradise into a hell.