A couple on a hiking tour through a remote beauty spot were swept to their deaths when they were engulfed by a freak flood waterfall.
The pair, identified as Thassia de Almeida and her boyfriend Leone Barbosa, had been part of a group of 10 walkers exploring a state park in Minas Gerais, Brazil, on 19th April.
But as they walked beside what was normally a gentle, picturesque fall near Conceicao do Mato Dentro they were carried off by a terrifying wall of water.
Leone Barbosa and Thassia de Almeida pose in undated photo. They died after they were swept away by a current in Conceicao do Mato Dentro, Brazil. Note: Private photo taken from social media. (Newsflash/NX)
The fall, say experts, had been turned instantly into a torrent by a massive rain storm further upstream forming a powerful waterhead which swept them away without warning.
Police say the bodies of Thassia, 36, and 38-year-old Leone were found further downstream by a spotter plane nearly 24 hours later.
Picture shows a Fire Department helicopter during rescue in Serra do Intendente State Park, undated. Leone Barbosa and Thassia de Almeida died after they were swept away by a current in Conceicao do Mato Dentro, Brazil. Note: Fire department photo taken from local media. (CBMMG/Newsflash/NX)
Their terrified companions, who had escaped the flood, were found soon after by rescuers who evacuated them from the park the next day after spending the night with them.
Disaster meteorologist Giovanni Dolif explained: "The intense rain fell on the head of the river, which made it rise very rapidly causing a wave called a waterhead."
(Clive Goodman / newsX)