Rescue workers searched for nearly 50 people reported missing on Monday after heavy rains sparked landslides in southern Ecuador that killed at least seven people. In the village of Alausi in Chimborazo province, some 300 kilometres (180 miles) south of Quito, landslides ripped through the night from Sunday to Monday. It buried dozens of houses and injured 23 people, officials said. Rescue workers and civilians were seen on Monday trying to reach survivors. Due to the rate of destruction, they tried hand-clearing debris between bent metal plates and split logs.
In the muddy streets of Alausi, a settlement of about 45,000 people surrounded by green hills, many were in tears as shocked residents stood waiting for the news.
“I managed to escape with about 15 minutes to spare,” survivor Jose Agualsaca told Teleamazonas, saying he was rushing to get things out of his house before the mud came.
President Guillermo Lasso said on Twitter that firefighters from neighbouring areas had been rushed to the village to help people affected by the tragedy.
He urged all citizens to evacuate the affected areas. The government mobilized the national police, armed forces, the health ministry and the Red Cross to help with the rescue efforts.
“We have activated temporary accommodation and mobilized sleeping kits for those that have lost their homes,” said a government statement on Twitter.
Since the start of the year, heavy rains in Ecuador have caused the deaths of 22 people. It destroyed 72 homes and damaged more than 6,900, according to the SNGR risk management secretariat.
The downpours have caused close to 1,000 dangerous events, such as landslides and flooding.
The area affected by Sunday’s disaster had been in a designated yellow alert risk zone since February following other landslides. Sunday’s landslide came just over a week after 15 people were killed when a strong quake struck Ecuador’s southwestern border.
The earthquake, registered at a magnitude of 6.5 by local authorities, caused 22 landslides. The landslides were so bad they blocked roads in the provinces of El Oro and Azuay. Afterwards, the government declared a two-month state of emergency in 13 of the country’s 24 provinces. This is to allow economic resources to be redistributed to affected areas.
In February, heavy rains forced oil pumping in the country to be suspended for five days. It is a safety check due to fears that a major oil pipeline could have been damaged. Ecuador’s Andean valleys can have a rainy season that lasts from October until May.
cc: Punch Ng
