Bodies of father and daughter found after landslide in Amazonas
20 de January de 2025
By Ana Pastana – From Cenarium
MANAUS (AM) – The bodies of Jeferson Pereira Araújo, 32, and his daughter, Ester Amorim, 8, were found late on Sunday night, January 19, after a landslide hit four members of the same family in the Redenção neighborhood, in the Central-West Zone of Manaus. According to the Civil Defense, the father and daughter were found embracing amid the rubble.
Teams from the Amazonas Military Fire Department (CBM-AM), Civil Defense and the Emergency Medical Service (Samu) were on-site to assist in the search and rescue efforts. In a statement, the CBM-AM reported that among the affected individuals, three were rescued alive and taken to city hospitals. According to the Medical Examiner’s Office (IML), the cause of death for the father and daughter was identified as mechanical asphyxia due to burial, blunt polytrauma and blunt force trauma.
Mateus Oliveira Amorim, 16, was among the rescued victims. The teenager was taken to a hospital and later discharged. His sister, Jhuliana Amorim, was also rescued and taken to the hospital. Speaking to CENARIUM, the family reported that she had to undergo emergency surgery, and there are no updates on her condition at this time. Jhuliana is the mother and wife of the victims who did not survive the tragedy.
Landslide
The landslide occurred after heavy rain hit the Amazonian capital late Saturday night, January 18, and continued into the early hours of Sunday, January 19. According to local residents, the incident happened around 10:30 AM on Sunday.
Speaking to CENARIUM, S.A.H.M (Stay At Home Mom) Ângela Maria Moreira Amorim, Ester’s grandmother, recounted the moment of the landslide. She was in one of the homes at the time of the incident. “I looked up and the ground shook. I jumped out of bed (…) and, as I went outside, the house came down with me. Then I just heard my daughter-in-law, her mother, screaming because of the kids who were in the other rooms, right?! One got trapped here, the other was over there (in the other room), there wasn’t enough time”, she said.
CBM-AM Statement:
“The Amazonas Military Fire Department (CBM-AM) reports that search teams located, on Sunday night (01/19), the bodies of a man and a female child, victims of a landslide that affected two houses in the Redenção neighborhood, Central-West Zone of the capital, on Sunday morning. The bodies were taken to the Medical Examiner’s Office (IML). In addition to the two fatalities, three other people were rescued alive and taken to hospital facilities in the capital. Since when called to the incident at approximately 11:20 AM, the fire department teams began search and rescue operations.”