According to an official report, 46 people are missing and seven others died in southern Ecuador in a landslide caused by heavy rains Sunday night.
• Also read: A strong earthquake has killed at least 15 people in Ecuador and Peru
Dozens of houses were buried in the village of Alausi in Chimborazo province, about 300 km south of Quito, in an Andean area hit by an earthquake last week that killed 15 people, including one in neighboring Peru.
The landslide left 46 people missing, seven killed and 23 injured, Ecuadorian authorities said in a new report on Monday. A first official report spoke of 16 dead and seven missing.
A total of almost 500 people were affected by the stream in a neighborhood on the north-eastern outskirts of the city.
“We are on the street, nine members of my family are dead. They are buried,” explained one survivor, Luis Gonzales, tearfully interviewed by a local television station. The man continued to search hopelessly in the rubble for his sister because he was told “everything was covered”.
Pictures circulated by local media showed dozens of rescuers and civilians rushing around the rubble in a ballet of ambulances with lights flashing and sirens wailing to try to extricate those trapped.
A massive brownish mudslide suddenly descended from the green mountains surrounding Alausi, home to about 45,000 people. In the disaster area, survivors waited in tears and with tears on their faces for news of their missing relatives.
“devil nose”
“The government is fully active and focused on the Alausi tragedy,” said Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso on Twitter, assuring that firefighters had been deployed since the early hours of the morning “to come to the aid of the affected citizens.”
The area where the tragedy occurred has been on “yellow alert” for the risk of landslides since February, as severe weather has hit the region in recent weeks.
The Zona del Deslave is about 600 m long and consists of 4 sectors: Barrio Nuevo Alausí, La Esperanza, El Estadio sector and Planta Eléctrica, today Heu Riesgo de Deslizamiento. The road alternately Pueblo Viejo collapsed in this sector. Urgent intervention by the competent Entidades pic.twitter.com/0rQAMJ0y8r
— Patricia Nuñez (@patynuezrCh) March 27, 2023
Authorities had also warned of a possible collapse of the E35 road in the Casual sector, where part of the mountain had collapsed.
The Chimborazo governor’s office said it was preparing food collection points to help those affected. The armed forces are involved in relief operations and transporting materials to build emergency shelters.
#URGENT
¡GOBIERNO Y AUTORIDADES HICIERON CASO OMISO A LAS ADVERTENCIAS!
After this week we learned of the Peligro tracking the geological fall in the Casual sector, Canton #Alausi, hoy la inoperancia llevó a la tragedia. Hasta el momento seis personas han sido rescatadas pic.twitter.com/eMMgpPV3ec— Zoom Ec (@ZoomEcuador) March 27, 2023
For its part, the local Red Cross provided “pre-hospital care” for the victims. Residents of the surrounding villages also arrived early in the morning to help with the rescue operations.
The city of Alausi is world-renowned for the “Devil’s Nose,” a sheer cliff through which Ecuador’s trans-Andean railway runs, a route dubbed the “world’s most difficult train” for its dangerous nature.
Since January, heavy rains have already left 22 dead and 346 homeless across the country. Authorities said more than 6,900 homes were damaged and 72 destroyed. About 987 incidents were caused by inclement weather such as flooding and landslides.
In February, rains disrupted crude oil production for five days as a pipeline threatened to burst after a bridge collapsed.