They are investigating false content about floods in the Brazilian state

The investigation request reached the National Front last night and was announced by Civic House Minister Rui Costa.

“I asked Minister (Ricardo) Lewandowski (Justice) to announce to the press that he will ask the Federal Police to open procedures and the AGU (General Counsel of the Union), in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, will activate the competent bodies. “And then to the judicial process and the responsibility of these people,” Costa said.

He pointed out that the army claimed that spreading false information in the affected state was hampering rescue operations.

The head of the presidential social media secretariat, Paolo Pimenta, also defended the investigation and punishment of groups spreading disinformation.

“The rescue teams in the armed forces and civil defense are exhausted from the abundance of fake news. “The AGU and PF must work to identify criminal agents to prevent their organized work to harm rescue and ransom operations,” Pimienta told the G1 portal.

He stressed, “If we are in a war to save lives, then whoever acts as a traitor must be treated as a traitor because he harms the rescue work.”

Federal, state and municipal governments launched rescue operations, which are still ongoing.

According to the National Union of Municipalities, the economic losses resulting from the state of emergency exceed $900 million, when considering housing and public infrastructure, as well as agriculture, livestock, industry, trade and services.

According to the latest update from Civil Defense, a total of 99,800 homes, including buildings and residential units, have been damaged, either completely or partially, and 100 deaths have been reported so far due to heavy rains that have overflowed the Rio Sul’s rivers.

In addition to this number of deaths, there are four other deaths being investigated, and 128 missing and 372 injured have been reported.

There are also 230.4 thousand people away from home. Of this total, 66.7 thousand are in shelters and 163.7 thousand are displaced (in the homes of family or friends).

The regional division includes 417 of the 497 municipalities with some reports of a problem related to the storm and 1.4 million people affected.

Starting mid-week, more rain is expected in already affected areas, putting the state on alert again.

rgh/ocs