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Ecuador: At least 11 dead and 67 missing after a landslide

At least 11 are dead and 67 are missing after the detachment of a huge part of the mountain mass in the province of Ciborasso, in southern Ecuador, which flattened dozens of houses. the hopes of finding them alive are dwindling day by day. Last night specially trained dogs, rescue crews and residents continued to search the wreckage.

“It’s almost impossible to remove it all (including the debris and volumes of mud) and all we will find, if we find anything, will be bodies,” Adriana explained to AFP, without hiding her despair. Guzman, a member of the fire brigade.

Based on the latest official casualty count, 163 houses were hit by the landslide mud and rocks in a peripheral district, on the mountainside. Survivors watched the efforts to retrieve their loved ones throughout the day yesterday, with obvious transitions, sometimes angry, sometimes powerless and desperate, reports APE-MPE, citing AFP.

“Here lies my daughter, my granddaughter, my whole family (…) Our pain is terrible,” said Carlos Macero, his face twitching, before he began yelling at crews to search faster. “My sisters were saved (…) but my sister-in-law didn’t make it out, she was buried with her babies,” Carmen Quiros said in despair.

As the hours pass, the hopes of finding someone alive dwindle. There is “tons of mud” and it is “hard for victims to survive,” said Fernando Jansa, a firefighter involved in the operation. The soil that covered the houses “leaves little oxygen, that’s the main problem” for those trapped, he insisted as he emerged from a spot where an excavation was made to a depth of four meters, but no sign of life was found. “The deeper we dig, the more dangerous it is,” as the ground becomes unstable, he added.

Dog is looking for his family

President Guillermo Lasso, who went to the site on Monday night, was greeted with boos, shouts AND slogans like “down with Lasso”. “I was able to go and see with my own eyes the search and rescue work being carried out by the rescue crews,” he commented on Twitter after meeting with local officials, assuring that the operation would continue “as long as necessary.”

In the affected area 600 houses were evacuated that were not hit by the landslide, by order of the authorities. The government opened three reception centers of those affected who were left homeless.

The story of Jacob, the Labrador who continues to desperately search for his people at the site of the disaster, is going viral on social media. the dog wanders, sniffs, digs, growls, cries… According to local media, only two members of the family he lived with were saved. Neighbors who recognized him wore a light green T-shirt, on which they have written the family’s name in marker, to identify him.

State of emergency

The area where the tragedy unfolded had been on “yellow alert” since February due to heavy rains. The authorities had warned that there was a risk of the road being cut in two.

Due to the rains, floods and landslides, the government declared last week state of emergency in 13 of Ecuador’s 24 provinces, so that resources needed to help those affected can be released.

Even before this landslide, rains and landslides had already killed 22 people and left 346 homeless across the country since January. More than 6,900 homes were damaged and 72 were completely destroyed, according to official figures.

Source: News Beast

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