Landslides kill at least 15, injure 20 in southern Peru

BET À DAY

A series of landslides in the southern region of Arequipa, Peru, left at least 15 people dead, 20 injured and two missing on Monday, according to an initial report from the authorities, who specify that the victims already number in the thousands. 

“The number of people who have died so far is 15,” said the National Civil Defense Institute in Arequipa, where the first landslides of mud and rocks occurred on Sunday due to torrential rains.

The most affected area is the district of Nicolas Valcarcel, in the province of Camaná, west of Arequipa. Four localities in the district and the neighboring region of Rio Grande were particularly affected.

“The situation in these four villages is very unfavorable (…) both in Rio Grande and in Nicolas Valcarcel”, regional governor Rohel Sanchez told local television Canal N.

He explained that there is a lot of mining activity in the hills surrounding these villages. 

“We probably have people (and workers) there who couldn't get out and were swept away by the mudslides,” Sánchez added.

The total number of victims in Arequipa is currently some 12,000 people, according to the same source.

The landslides in Nicolas Valcarcel damaged 310 houses and destroyed 10 others, and also affected a health center and three rural roads, Civil Defense said.

Authorities in Arequipa have asked the central government in Lima to declare a state of emergency p our natural disaster in the region.