Madeira floods kill 42, divers hunt for missing

FUNCHAL, Portugal (Reuters) - Portuguese rescuers used excavators and their bare hands on Sunday to sift through mud and debris for victims of violent floods and mudslides that killed at least 42 people on the resort island of Madeira.

Officials said they feared more bodies had been washed away into the ocean after Saturday's deluge, and flew in divers from the mainland to search for those drowned. Rescue work carried on late into Sunday.

Regional Tourism and Transport Secretary Conceicao Estudante told a briefing four people were still missing.

Miguel Albuquerque, the mayor of Madeira's capital Funchal, said some areas above the city were particularly badly hit, likening the scene to Dante's Inferno:

"What happened in the higher parts of Funchal was Dantesque," he said in televised remarks. "People were swept away in their cars, houses were swept away."

Saturday's heavy rainstorm unleashed floods and mudslides on the Atlantic island, washing bridges and burying some houses under tones of mud.

Francisco Ramos, the regional secretary for social affairs, said there were 42 confirmed deaths on Madeira, which lies some 1,000 km (625 miles) southwest of Lisbon and is famous for its sandy beaches and fortified wine of the same name.

The government decreed three days of mourning and called an extraordinary cabinet meeting for Monday to discuss the worst loss of life in Portugal since a bridge over the Douro River collapsed in 2001, killing 59 people.

Many roads in Madeira were partially destroyed or blocked with rocks, trees and mud. It took civil protection services more than 24 hours to reach the village of Curral das Freiras, which had been cut off. Officials said one person had been killed and one was missing there.

Officials said about 120 people were injured and 300 spent the night in temporary shelters. Some 240 lost their homes.

HELP ARRIVING, ONE TOURIST KILLED

A military transport plane with rescue teams arrived in Funchal on Sunday and a navy frigate was heading for the island to help with the search effort and reconstruction.

Alberto Joao Jardim, the leader of the regional government, said there had been "no serious incident" involving the tourism sector on the island, but a British Foreign Office spokeswoman said later a British national had been killed. She would not provide details.

Many tourists on Madeira, which held its popular annual Carnival parades last week, were Britons visiting for the half-term school holiday.

Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates visited Madeira late on Saturday, pledging "all aid that the regional government requires in this serious situation." Jardim said he had also requested European Union funds.

Meteorologists said the amount of rainfall that fell in one day on Saturday exceeded the monthly average, but no heavy rainfall was expected on Madeira over the next few days.

(Reporting by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Jon Boyle)