The girl was pulled out alive in the city of Petropolis, 70km north of Rio.

Rescue teams had to stop their work on Friday night because of risks of new landslides in the region.

The girl's father died as a house was knocked to the ground.

She survived because he protected her with his body, members of rescue teams said.

Three more people died in the same place.

"My son was a warrior, he spent all that time there and saved his little daughter," Roberto Napoleao, the grandfather of the girl, told journalists.

"You can't imagine what it is like to lose a son. It hurts so much."

Mayors in the state and Governor Claudio Castro had alarmed residents of potential problems for the weekend since Thursday.

Firefighters have struggled to reach those hit by heavy rain, many of them residents of long endangered areas.

Sniffing dogs were also part of the rescue efforts.

Almost 100 people had been saved, authorities said.

Authorities in Teresopolis, close to Petropolis, said one person was still missing after the heavy rains.

Meteorologists say the heavy rains that hit Rio state are moving towards the neighbouring state of Espirito Santo.

Australian Associated Press