A bridge in Brazil collapsed after heavy rains triggered flooding this week. Fooage showed a firefighter using a cable to pass over a collapsed crossing in Santa Maria in the southern Rio Grande do Sul state where at least 29 people had died in the extreme weather conditions as of Thursday night (2 May). Another 60 people are missing, according to the state’s civil defence agency. South America’s weather is affected by the climate phenomenon El Niño, a periodic event that warms surface waters in the Equatorial Pacific region.