In the early hours of the morning of this Friday (18), Marco Kronemberg accompanied the work of the firefighters in Caxambu, one of the areas most punished by the rains in Petrópolis.
Apprehensive, he rummaged through the rubble with his bare hands, eventually finding a picture frame, intact, with a photo of a family member. In the house, now completely destroyed, lived the two brothers, one older and the other younger than him.
Marcelo Kronemberg, 53, Marco’s younger brother, has been missing since the storm that hit the city, in the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro, last Tuesday night (15).
According to neighbors, Marcelo was at the window, taking pictures of the falling rain, when a landslide hit the house where he lived with his brother Luiz Antônio Kronemberg Mendes, 59, who is also missing.
“He was filming the water that was going down. He didn’t have time to leave, unfortunately. The neighbors talked about the time he fell, almost catching him. And I found out why I had called him a little earlier. He spoke every day,” says Marco.
The Kronemberg residence is one of four that disappeared amid the wreckage. Volunteers who know the place are helping firefighters identify properties and residents. It is not yet known how many are missing.
According to the latest update from the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro, on Thursday night (17), 116 people were reported missing by the Police Station for Discovery of Whereabouts (DDPA).
During the work, the police identified three people who were on the list of disappeared, located in one of the reception points for displaced families.
Of these, 15 fatal victims were recognized who were among those wanted by family and friends. Agents from the specialized unit continue to visit support points and shelters in the city to fill in forms and complete legal formalities.
With the support of the volunteers, Marco says he will continue helping with the search, alongside the firefighters, until he gets news from the brothers. Moved, he remembers the time he lived in the same house as his brothers and says he never imagined that the place would turn into that tragedy scenario.
“In 88, I got to see something like that, but not like that, involving us. There are no words, difficult”, he lamented.
Source: CNN Brasil
