A landslide caused by heaviest rain that the region has experienced in the last two decades, which fell on Monday on Quito, left at least eleven dead and 32 injured after destroying a sports field, authorities said.
We keep coordinating the emergency tasks due to the flood that occurred today, with the Metropolitan COE.
Technical personnel and heavy equipment, from EPMAPS and EPMMOP, are in the affected areas, carrying out search, rescue and debris removal tasks.
– Santiago Guarderas (@santiguarderas) February 1, 2022
“So far there are eleven dead, 15 injured and we have eight collapsed structures“, said the mayor of the Ecuadorian capital, Santiago Guarderas.
The municipality later specified in a statement that “32 wounded are also registered” and that affected families were placed in eight shelters.
Accompanied by authorities such as Ecuadorian Vice President Alfredo Borrero, Guarderas explained in a virtual press conference that the torrential downpour exceeded the capacity of a water collection structure located on a hillside and led to a current that “crashed into a field” in which several people were practicing sports.
The Integrated Security Service ECU911 initially reported a balance of “15 injured and 6 dead“, according to the command post activated in the face of the emergency.
The landslide, which originated in the foothills of the Pichincha volcano, affected the La Gasca sector, on the northwestern side of the capital of Ecuador, which has been enduring heavy downpours. Currents of water, mud and stones descended the steep La Gasca avenue, trapping vehicles and flooding houses and streets, according to images released to the press by ECU911.
record rain
Guarderas specified that the rain on Saturday was 3.5 liters per m2 and that of this Monday was 75 liters per m2, when two liters per m2 were forecast.
Is “a record figure, which we had not had since 2003“, he added.
The emergency area also suffered the interruption of the electrical service due to the fall of poles. The National Risk Management Service reported in turn that the Ministry of Health “treats and transfers the wounded in 25 ambulances to different health houses“, while the municipality of Quito “mobilizes road cleaning machinery“.
Some 60 soldiers were also mobilized to support search and rescue work by firefighters and police, who at night removed debris accumulated after the landslide.
Due to the effects of the current rainy season in Ecuador, which since last October has hit 22 of the 24 provinces, had 18 deaths and 24 injuries as of Sunday, as well as almost 2,800 affected and some 200 homeless, according to the National Risk Management Service.
The effects reach highways, agricultural areas, homes and health and education centers.
AFP
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