ALAUSI , ECUADOR (AFP) – Rescuers searched yesterday for more than 60 people reported missing after a landslide triggered by months of heavy rain killed at least seven people in southern Ecuador. The mudslide happened overnight on Sunday into Monday, burying dozens of homes and injuring 23 people in the village of Alausi in Chimborazo province, some 300 kilometres south of Quito, officials said.
Shocked residents, many in tears, stood waiting for news as crews with shovels and sniffer dogs dug through the debris to get to survivors.
Alausi, a village of some 45,000 people also saw several public buildings hit by the avalanche, which damaged roads and closed three schools.
Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso said on Twitter that firefighters from neighbouring areas had been rushed to the village to help people affected by the tragedy. He urged all citizens to evacuate the affected areas. The government mobilised the national police, armed forces, the Health Ministry and the Red Cross to help with the rescue efforts.
