Death toll rises to 8 from Sao Paulo severe storm

SAO PAULO, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from a severe storm that hit southeast Brazil's Sao Paulo state rose to eight on Friday, the Civil Defense agency said Tuesday.

The storm wreaked havoc: winds of 130 km an hour have toppled over 900 trees, rains have sparked flooding and power outages have affected more than 2 million people.

The latest casualty involved a patient who had been hospitalized in the city of Ibiuna after being hit by a tree but later succumbed to injuries, raising the death toll.

Other fatal victims were killed by falling trees, collapsing walls and the sinking of a small boat on the island of Ilhabela.

The Civil Defense and Fire Department said they registered more than 2,000 emergency calls in 40 cities.

Privately-owned electric company Enel, which has the public concession to provide service, said that 2.1 million residents were left without electricity on Friday after falling trees damaged electricity cables.

On Tuesday, according to state-run news agency Agencia Brasil, 200,000 residents were still without electricity in the state capital Sao Paulo, the largest city in South America with 12 million inhabitants.