Officials have said that emergency crews spent Thursday recovering bodies from another mudslide in rain-soaked Rio de Janeiro and they feared claimed 200 people's lives.

The mudslide inundated part of a slum in Niteroi, across the bay from Rio de Janeiro, late Wednesday, the BBC has reported. The British network further said that at least 50 buildings were destroyed, including a nursery for children.

At least 200 people were feared buried, Civil defense spokesman Pedro Machado told the Globo news network.

Globo quoted Machado as saying, "In our experience, it's an instant death (for those caught in their homes)."

About 20 people were pulled from the debris alive, reports from local media have claimed.

It was further reported by the BBC that the region has been wracked by several other mudslides previously this week that had pushed the death toll to 150. That number is now expected to spike sharply.

The slides have been triggered by what Brazil's national weather service says has been the most rain in 48 years.

It was told by the authorities that efforts were under way to distribute food, medicine and other basic necessities to those affected by the mudslides.

4,000 families were left homeless and 10,000 houses remained at risk, Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes said. (With Inputs from Agencies)