QUITO (Equador): At least six people have been killed and 19 others are injured in Equador after heavy rain-storms have triggered a landslide in the South-American nation, reported Al Jazeera.
The National Secretariat for Risk Management released a report stating that the fatal mudslide happened on Sunday in the central Ecuadorian city of Banos de Agua Santa.
After initially claiming that thirty additional people were missing, the agency subsequently announced their location.
To clear the roads, the authorities have dispatched heavy machinery, according to Al Jazeera.
Miguel Guevara, the mayor of Banos, advised locals to avoid dangerous roads and stated that authorities were working quickly to clear the region along the northern coast in order to make it easier to look for additional deaths.
Banos has long drawn tourists interested in touring Ecuador’s volcanoes and craters.
It is well-known among travellers as a starting place for adventures in the Amazon jungle. By plane, it is roughly 135 kilometres (84 miles) south of Quito, while by car, it is 186 kilometres (115 miles) south, reported Al Jazeera.
The Ecuadorian military in the canton of Chambo reported that after heavy rains caused a nearby river to overflow, its members collaborated with emergency services to evacuate locals and their possessions.
Roberto Luque, Ecuador’s minister of public works, said operations at three hydroelectric plants had been affected by the storm.
“My solidarity with all the families that have been affected,” wrote Luque in a post on X.
Over the past few days, rainstorms have swept throughout areas of Central and South America, prompting warnings about the potential of flooding, rock falls, and landslides from several countries.
A landslide in El Salvador earlier this week claimed the lives of two children. The nation was under a red alert from the civil protection agency due to severe rains. (ANI)