Ecuador landslide: at least 24 dead after hillside collapses in capital Quito
-
Loading... - Amelia McPherson
- 02 Feb 2022
- 416 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
A rain-weakened hillside collapsed in Ecuador’s capital, Quito, sweeping over homes and a sports field and killing at least 24 people, city officials have said.
The Quito Security Department also said on Tuesday that 32 people were injured and eight houses had collapsed, with more damaged.
Neighbours joined rescue workers in hunting through the ruins for survivors of the disaster that hit after nearly 24 hours of rainfall.
The storm was pounding outside when Imelda Pacheco said she felt her house move as if an earthquake had struck. Suddenly water and rocks began to pour in through doors and windows and she fled before the building was destroyed.
“I barely had time to grab the hand of my four-year-old son and I ran to the stairs, to the terrace. Suddenly the walls in front and to the side disappeared,” she told the Associated Press.
“We shouted to the neighbours on the first floor, but the water carried away the mother and daughter,” she said, standing before the ruins of her home.
“I thought I was going to die with my son. I hugged him strongly and we shook, I think from the cold and the fear … We barely survived,” she added.
Waves of mud, some three metres (10ft) high, carried away vehicles, motorcycles, rubbish bins and other debris in the neighbourhoods of La Gasca and La Comuna below the slopes of the Ruco Pinchincha mountain. Read More…
