AMN

Ecuador, at least seven have been killed and 50 other reported missing after heavy rain caused a mudslide in southern part of the country yesterday. Local media reported that the mudslide happened late on Sunday night, burying dozens of homes and injured people.

Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso said that firefighters from neighbouring areas had been rushed to the affected site. The area affected by disaster had been in a designated “yellow alert” risk zone since February following other landslides. The landslide came just over a week after 15 people were killed when a strong quake struck in Ecuador’s south-western border region with Peru.

According to reports, since the start of 2023, heavy rains in Ecuador have caused the deaths of dozens people, destroyed and damaged around 7,000 homes.

The downpours have caused close to 1,000 dangerous events, such as landslides and flooding.