At least 39 dead, dozens missing in flooding in southern Brazil

Flooding in southern Brazil after days of heavy rain has killed at least 39 people, with another 68 people still missing, civil defence authorities said late on Friday.

More than 24,000 people were displaced from their homes due to the flooding, which struck more than 265 municipalities in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. More than 8,000 people were being housed in emergency shelters.

In Porto Alegre, the capital of the state, the Guaíba, a lake formed by the confluence of several rivers, reached a record level of 4.77 metres on Friday evening, according to the city's civil defence authorities.

This exceeded the previous record set in 1941 by one centimetre.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva described the disaster as one of the worst floods in the country's history.

"Never in the history of Brazil has there been so much rain in one place," he said at a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the capital Brasilia.

Officials said that more than 2,000 civilian rescue workers were deployed, and the Defence Ministry said more than 900 soldiers were also dispatched alongside nine military aircraft and 98 boats to help with the rescue effort.

So far, more than 8,000 people have been rescued.

The rain began on Monday and caused widespread flooding and landslides in some areas. Houses and bridges were damaged and numerous roads were made impassable.

A dam partially burst on Thursday.