Authorities announced on Saturday that the death toll from a massive landslide in Ecuador has increased to 27, and that rescue workers are still looking for dozens of people who are still missing. The disaster occurred nearly a week ago.
Authorities reported that at least 163 homes were destroyed or damaged last Sunday night when a sizable portion of a mountainside buried sections of the town of Alausi as a result of torrential rain.
Rescue workers have been searching through the debris of the southern town 180 miles (300 kilometers) south of Quito for dozens of people over the course of the last six days, but the death toll has been steadily rising.
The Secretariat of Risk Management reported on Friday that 23 persons had passed away, 38 had been hurt, and 67 were still missing.
The national prosecutor’s office announced on Twitter that “27 confirmed deaths after the collapse” had been added to the death toll by Saturday.
Though it wasn’t immediately obvious how many people were still missing, officials said rescue teams were still looking for them.
Just over a week prior, the same area was struck by an earthquake that claimed 15 lives.
Following months of persistent rain, the government last week proclaimed a two-month state of emergency in 13 of the 24 provinces of the nation, allowing for the redistribution of financial resources to the impacted areas.
