Dam Breaks, Adding More Misery To Flood-Stricken Region
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Dam Breaks, Adding More Misery To Flood-Stricken Region
A dam break swamped a rural city in Brazil already devastated by a month of flooding.
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SAO PAULO (May 29, 2009)--Raging torrents from a ruptured dam have swamped a small rural Brazilian city and killed at least 4 people.

At least 120 homes were destroyed in a region already devastated by more than a month of floods.

Eleven people were missing Friday, 80 have suffered minor injuries and nearly 3,000 have been forced from their homes.

Amateur video footage shows the water inundating Cocal, population about 25,000, after a section of the dam gave way under the weight of a reservoir bloated by rains.

Floods from those rains have killed nearly 60 and left hundreds of thousands homeless in a wide swath of northern Brazil.

Rescue operations were suspended until Friday.

Churches and other buildings have been turned into shelters for the displaced.