Ecuador’s risk agency revised downward the death toll from a landslide triggered by heavy rains in the country’s Andean region on Monday, indicating that there were 7 deaths, while 46 people are missing.
The agency previously reported that 16 people had died as a result of the landslide in the city of Alausí, in the Ecuadorian province of Chimborazo, but did not explain the reasons behind the revision.
A large amount of earth swept away on Sunday night in a sector of Alausí, affecting some 500 people and 163 homes, according to the latest report from the risk office.
Twenty-three people were injured, the report added, bringing the number missing to 46, from the seven people reported earlier on Monday.
Some 32 people have been rescued, said the secretary of risks.
“We have had to witness a terrible tragedy,” Transport Minister Darío Herrera told Reuters in Alausi. “The first thing is to get to care and evacuate people from the homes.”
Rescue teams searched for survivors among the rubble, aided by dogs. In some affected areas, most houses were completely buried under the earth, according to a witness from Reuters.
The South American nation is experiencing the effects of heavy rains that have destroyed roads, bridges, and public and private infrastructure. A stadium was completely covered in earth after the slide, while a coliseum collapsed.
IN PHOTOS: 16 people dead and dozens affected by landslide in Ecuador
More than 163 homes were affected, according to reports. Winter has hit different areas of the South American country hard.
The country’s Risk Secretariat declared a 247-hectare area in Alausí on a yellow alert in February because it had been identified as susceptible to mass movements, such as landslides or subsidence.
“We asked that they send the technicians to study this. They told us that it was not necessary and there was no evidence and there is the evidence,” said Juan Gavilanes, who is desperately looking for his missing grandson. “Everything is covered with dirt.”
President Guillermo Lasso declared an emergency due to public calamity this month in 14 of the country’s provinces due to winter and a strong earthquake that shook the country on March 18.
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