Ecuador. At least seven have been killed after heavy rains caused a mudslide in southern Ecuador. In an initial statement on Monday, Ecuador’s Risk Management Secretariat (SNGR) said at least 16 people were killed and about 500 others were affected by a wave of mud and debris that swept through the small community of Alausi on Sunday night.
Later in the day, however, the agency revised the number to seven people killed, 23 injured and 46 missing. It did not explain the reason for the revision, but noted that 32 people had been rescued. “We have had to witness a terrible tragedy,” Transport Minister Dario Herrera told the Reuters news agency in Alausi, located in central Ecuador about 317km (197 miles) south of the capital, Quito.
“The first thing is to attend to and evacuate people from the houses,” Herrera said.
