Landslide in Ecuador Kills 8 Amid Heavy Rains

Rescuers removed three bodies of people who died in a landslide in Ecuador a day earlier amid a heavy rainstorm that battered parts of Central and South America, according to officials.

Rescue teams and some inhabitants searched the mud looking for more victims of a landslide in central Ecuador that killed at least eight people.

Heavy machinery and rescue teams were deployed in the hills of Banos, a city popular with foreign and local tourists, in central Ecuador, to find the bodies and assist injured and affected residents.

A heavy rainstorm caused by low pressure swept across parts of Central and South America, with various countries warning of the increased risk of landslides, rock falls and flooding.

Streets and roads were still covered with mud, affecting public transport and leaving residents to travel on foot with their belongings. Schools also suspended classes.

Heavy rains over the weekend drenched several provinces of Ecuador, but the community of Baños was one of the most affected when a hill partially collapsed Sunday and swept over some houses and vehicles.

Ecuador’s Risk Management office said in a press release that besides the eight confirmed deaths, 11 others were missing and 22 more were injured.

Baños, which is about 135 kilometers south of the capital, Quito, is known among tourists as a jumping-off point for adventures in the Amazon jungle.

Search teams and some inhabitants removed debris by hand, though heavy machinery was also put to use.

As the searchers worked in the mud, some residents sought to recover furniture from damaged houses.

Across Ecuador, storms caused other landslides and flooding in at least 13 provinces, destroying some bridges and highways, severing the main road connecting Ecuador’s highlands to its Amazonian provinces.