NITERÓI, Brazil — Rescue workers worked feverishly on Thursday to clear debris and uncover the bodies of as many as 200 people buried in a neighborhood built atop an old garbage dump that collapsed in a devastating landslide on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.

Drenching rains essentially swept away the neighborhood on Wednesday night, burying dozens of homes and a small church underneath tons of rubble, mud and rotting debris.

The rains have set off flash floods and mudslides across the state of Rio de Janeiro in recent days, paralyzing Rio’s airports and transportation systems and killing as many as 170 people. That toll could rise significantly as the bodies are removed from the landslide.

In Morro do Bumba, a hillside neighborhood of Niterói, a Rio suburb, the rains appeared to weaken decades-old layers of compressed refuse and dirt upon which some of the homes had been built. Around 9 p.m. on Wednesday, the neighborhood gave way. The landslide traveled more than about 2,000 feet, destroying an estimated 60 homes and a church. Residents said the church might have had as many as 30 people inside it at the time.