A huge landslide swept over an Andean community in central Ecuador, burying dozens of homes, killing at least seven people and sending rescuers on a frantic search for survivors, authorities said Monday.
Earlier in the day, officials had reported 16 deaths, but President Guillermo Lasso put the confirmed toll at seven as he arrived Monday night at the scene of the disaster in Alausi, about 137 miles south of the capital, Quito. Officials also raised the number of people reported missing to 62.
Ecuador's Risk Management Secretariat said more than 30 people were rescued after the mountainside collapsed around 10 p.m. Sunday. It said 23 people were injured. The risk management agency estimated 500 people and 163 homes were affected by the disaster, which also destroyed a portion of the Pan-American Highway.
Area residents told local media they heard tremors on the mountain before the landslide, which was estimated to be about 150 metres wide and nearly a half mile long. It swept away trees, homes and other buildings. More than fifty houses were buried under tons of mud of debris.
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