Torrential rains, the strongest in twenty, flooded the capital and made dozens of wounded and huge damage. Three days of national mourning have been decreed.
Le Monde with AFP
Torrential rains, the strongest in twenty years, fell on Quito, the capital of Ecuador, making at least 24 dead, dozens wounded and 12 missing, according to the last provisional assessment of the authorities, Tuesday 1 er February. The extent of destruction in Quito, a city of 2.7 million inhabitants, is equivalent. The authorities have decreed a three-day mourning.
The precipitation that fell on Monday for seventeen hours without discontinuer have broke off a retention basin, causing a stream of water that has shown an avenue on more than one kilometer, in the northwestern capital of the capital. . The basin, with a capacity of 4,500 cubic meters, broke after receiving nearly four times the usual flow, said the mayor.
Torrents of carrier water and mud water have then carried away cars and flooded homes and streets, according to images broadcast by relief and media . Several buildings have been damaged, including a police station and an electricity station. The torrent of mud, which originated on the slopes of the Pichincha volcano, also struck a sporting ground on which amateurs in front of the public installed on grads.
“People played there and failed to escape. The torrent took them by surprise and swept the ground,” said France-Press (AFP) Freddy Barrios Gonzalez, a 56-year-old worker who worked nearby. “Those who managed to run out [but] a family was buried” under a river of mud, “he reported, his own clothes still stamped.
as an explosion
Mauro Pinas, a resident of Quito, said he heard “an explosion” when the retention structure broke out, after which “mud rivers” fell on the city. The authorities did not exclude that other bodies are discovered under the mud and the rubble, while soldiers accompanied by dogs pursued the research.
The President, Guillermo Lasso, visiting China since Monday, addressed to Twitter his condolences to the families bereaved by “the tragedy of Las Gasca”. “We are pursuing efforts for research, rescues, actions to contain water, psychological attention and wounded transfer in health centers,” he added.
Depending on the mayor of Quito, he fell on Saturday some 3.5 liters per square meter, but nearly 75 liters per square meter on Monday when the forecasts announced rains not to exceed two liters per square meter. “This is a figure we have not seen since 2003,” he said. The municipality of the capital mobilized gear to clear the streets and the water evacuation system. Sixty soldiers were also called for reinforcement to support search and cleaning operations.
The heavy rains that have fallen on Ecuador since October have already struck 22 of its 24 provinces, making at least 18 deaths and 24 wounded, according to a balance sheet of the National Risk Management Service established before the weather of Monday. .