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| Photo Credit: AP. |
LAS TEJERÍAS, Venezuela (AP) — A landslide fueled by flooding and days of torrential rain swept through a town in central Venezuela, leaving at least 22 people dead as it dragged mud, rocks and trees through neighborhoods, authorities said Sunday. Dozens of people are missing.
Residents of
Las Tejerías in Santos Michelena, an agro-industrial town in Aragua state 54
miles (87 kilometers) southwest of Caracas, had just seconds to reach safety
late Saturday as debris swept down a mountainside onto them.
The official
death toll rose to 22 after the recovery of 20 bodies on Sunday, Vice President
Delcy Rodríguez told state-owned Venezolana de Televisión.
“There was a
large landslide in the central area of Las Tejerías” where five streams
overflowed, she said from the scene of the disaster. “We have already found 22
dead people; there are more than 52 missing.”
“There are
still people walled in,” Rodríguez said. “We are trying to rescue them, to
rescue them alive.”
She said
shelters will be set up for people who lost their homes.
Higher on
the mountainside, most of the houses were swept away, including those of a
group of Evangelicals who were praying when the landslide hit, said homemaker
Carmen Teresa Chirinos, a resident of Las Tejerías. Families in tears hugged in
front of destroyed homes and businesses.
“There are a lot of people missing,” Chirinos
said.
Hours
earlier, Major Gen. Carlos Pérez Ampueda, the vice minister for risk management
and civil protection, had said via Twitter that several people were reported
missing in the El Béisbol and La Agotada neighborhoods in the north of the
town. Dozens of homes were damaged by the landslide.
Rescuers
were carrying out search operations with trained dogs and drones, Pérez Ampueda
said. Crews of workers and heavy machinery removed debris to clear roads and
restore electricity and water services.
“So many
families lost their houses and I, as a businessman, lost my pizzeria,” said
Luis Fuentes, who opened his pizza restaurant two years ago. “Look, I have
nothing.”
Aragua Gov.
Karina Carpio said the flood waters “terribly affected” 21 sectors in Las
Tejerías, capital of the Santos Michelena municipality, which has some 54,000
inhabitants.
During the
past week, torrential rains have caused flooding in 11 of Venezuela’s 23
states.
President
Nicolás Maduro said 20.000 officials, including rescuers and members of
security forces, have been deployed to affected regions.
Associated
Press journalists Jorge Rueda contributed to this report from Caracas and
Matías Delacroix from Las Tejerías.