ALOSI/QUITO, Ecuador (Reuters) – A landslide triggered by heavy rains in Ecuador’s Andean region has killed at least seven people, injured 23 and left about 50 missing, the Ecuadorean risk agency said on Monday in a revised report on Twitter. .
Earlier, the agency reported that 16 people were killed as a result of a landslide in the city of Aluse, in the province of Chimborazo, Ecuador. It did not explain the reasons for the revision, but said 32 people were rescued after a large amount of dirt was washed away in parts of the city of Alosi on Sunday night.
Its statement on Twitter raised the number of missing persons to 46 from seven in its previous report. The agency said that the total number of affected people was 500 people and 163 homes were affected.
“We had to witness a terrible tragedy,” Transport Minister Dario Herrera told Reuters in Alausi. “The first thing is to take care of the houses and evacuate them.”
Rescue workers searched for survivors under the rubble with the help of dogs. A Reuters witness stated that in some areas most of the houses were completely buried underground.
One stadium was completely buried after the mudslide, while another venue used for sporting and music events collapsed.
Heavy rains destroyed roads, bridges and other infrastructure across Ecuador. President Guillermo Lasso earlier this month declared a state of emergency in the 14 provinces most affected by bad weather and the powerful earthquake.
(Reporting by Tito Correa in Alosi and Alexandra Valencia in Quito; Writing by Valentine Hillier and Oliver Griffin; Editing by Angus McSwan and David Gregorio
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