Severe floods and mudslides raising death toll in Brazil

In the mountain towns of Nova Friburgo, Teresopolis and Petropolis, the reported death tolls are 168, 146 and 34 respectively, Brazilian media reported.

Helicopters are being brought in as the search for survivors continues in the region north of Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil has seen severe flooding in recent years, affecting thousands. Heavy rain began falling again early today as rescuers sought to begin their search and is expected to continue throughout much of the day.

Brazil's civil defence department has not yet confirmed the higher death toll, but officials there have said they believe there could be hundreds more bodies yet to be recovered in Teresopolis alone.

Searches continued overnight in Nova Friburgo and Teresopolis, but were postponed in Petropolis.

One area of Teresopolis remains cuts off entirely and is yet to be reached by any rescuers.

Sixteen more bodies were found in the town early on Thursday, but the most dramatic rise was in Nova Friburgo, where 48 more people were reported to have died. A six-month-old baby, reportedly named Nicholas, was luckily found alive after 12 hours trapped in the rubble of a ruined building.

In Petropolis, Mayor Paul Mustrangi said the waters had ripped through some areas with devastating effect.

"What happened here was worse than what happened in 2008. There is nothing left. All the houses were hit," he told Brazilian media.

With many people still missing, it is feared the death toll could rise even further and there is concern about water-borne diseases. Power and telephone lines are down in the three towns, and there is no drinking water, officials say.

President Dilma Rousseff is due to fly over the area on Thursday to inspect the damage. On Wednesday she signed a decree authorising 780 million reais (£296m) in emergency funding for the affected areas.

Earlier this week, torrential rains in neighbouring Sao Paulo state left 13 people dead and brought traffic chaos to Brazil's biggest city.

"It's a huge catastrophe, a major disaster," Teresopolis Mayor Jorge Mario Sedlacek said.