At least 22 people died and 52 were missing after a landslide late Saturday, October 8 in Las Tejerias, an industrial city about fifty kilometers southwest of Caracas, the Vice President of Venezuela announced on Sunday. , Delcy Rodriguez.
The heavy rains that have been falling for weeks have already caused the death of 13 people across the country.
“Five streams have overflowed and (…) we are seeing very significant damage here, loss of life: to date we have already found 22 dead, there are more than 52 people missing,” Delcy told local media. Rodríguez.
In Las Tejerias, AFP journalists saw a large number of destroyed houses, completely devastated businesses, mudslides, and in the streets, the presence of trees dragged down from the mountain.
A thousand people are taking part in the rescue operations, Interior and Justice Minister Remigio Ceballos Ichaso told AFP, who went there to assess the damage.
Carmen Melendez has lived in this city of more than 50,000 inhabitants for 55 years.
“The city is lost, Las Tejerias is lost,” she says.
In 1999, huge landslides claimed 10,000 lives in the state of Vargas, 25 kilometers north of Caracase.
With AFP
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