Dozens missing in deadly Ecuador landslide
- Rescuers searched for victims after a landslide buried homes in Ecuador town
- Heavy rains have destroyed roads, bridges, and other infrastructure across country
A huge landslide swept over an Andean community in central Ecuador, burying dozens of homes, killing at least seven people and sending rescuers on a frantic search for survivors, authorities said on Monday.
Earlier in the day, officials had reported 16 deaths, but President Guillermo Lasso put the confirmed toll at seven as he arrived Monday night at the scene of the disaster in Alauso, about 220km (137 miles) south of the capital, Quito. Officials also raised the number of people reported missing to 62.
Lasso lamented the tragedy and promised people in the town that “we will continue working” on the search effort.
Ecuador’s Risk Management Secretariat said more than 30 people were rescued after the mountainside collapsed around 10pm on Sunday. It said 23 people were injured.
“My mother is buried” under the mud, said Luis Angel Gonzalez, 58, who also lost other family members Sunday. “I am so sad, devastated. There is nothing here, no houses, no anything. We are homeless (and) without family.”
The risk management agency estimated 500 people and 163 homes were affected by the disaster, which also destroyed a portion of the Pan-American Highway.
One stadium was completely buried after the mudslide, while another venue used for sports and music events collapsed.
The governor of Chimborazo, Ivan Vinueza, said officials had urged people to evacuate the area after landslides and cracks began to develop about two months ago. Some followed the advice, and by Saturday, as tremors intensified, others fled.
Area residents told local media they heard tremors on the mountain before the landslide, which was estimated to be about 150 metres (490 feet) wide and nearly 700 metres long. It swept away trees, homes and other buildings. More than fifty houses were buried under tonnes of mud of debris.
Firefighters from a half-dozen cities were dispatched to the area to help. Rescuers focused on the flanks of the landslide where they found traces and debris of houses.
Rescuer and paramedic Alberto Escobar said it was unlikely more survivors would be found because of the time that had elapsed.
Since the start of the year, heavy rains in Ecuador have caused the deaths of 22 people, destroyed 72 homes and damaged more than 6,900. Ecuador’s Andean valleys can have a rainy season that lasts from October until May.
In February, heavy rains forced oil pumping in the country to be suspended for five days for safety checks over fears that a major oil pipeline could have been damaged by the collapse of a bridge.
Sunday’s landslide came just over a week after 15 people were killed when a strong quake struck in Ecuador’s southwestern border region with Peru.
The earthquake, registered at a magnitude of 6.5 by local authorities, caused 22 landslides that blocked roads in the provinces of El Oro and Azuay.
Afterward, the government declared a two-month state of emergency in 13 of the country’s 24 provinces, allowing economic resources to be redistributed to affected areas.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
