QUITO: At least 16 people have died in a landslide in southern Ecuador caused by months of heavy rainfall, the government said on Monday.
The landslide happened late on Sunday night, burying dozens of homes, wounding 16 people, and affecting nearly 500, the Risk Management Secretariat (SNGR) said in a statement.
The incident comes just over a week after 15 people, including a Peruvian, were killed when a strong earthquake struck in the southwestern border region with Peru.
Since January this year, heavy rains have been responsible for the deaths of at least 22 people.
Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso stated on Twitter that firefighters had been deployed to the village of Alausi in Chimborazo province, some 300 kilometers (180 miles) south of the capital city, “to attend to the affected citizens.”
Images shared on local media showed rescuers and civilians trying to clear debris in the dead of night with only torches for light.
Destructions caused by heavy rains in Ecuador
Heavy rains since January have destroyed 72 homes and damaged over 6,900, according to the SNGR.
There have been close to 1,000 dangerous incidents, such as landslides and flooding, caused by heavy rains this year.
The quake on March 18 in the provinces of Azuay and El Oro caused 22 landslides that blocked roads.
Afterward, the government called a two-month state of emergency in over half the country, allowing economic resources to be redistributed from other areas to ensure aid to the affected people.
In February, the heavy rains forced oil pumping in the country to be suspended for five days because an oil pipeline was in danger due to the risk that a bridge would collapse.
