John
04-03-2010, 03:52 PM
A huge avalanche of mud and rock has buried a small village in Peru, killing at least 20 people and leaving 25 others missing.
"An entire village, some 400 people, has completely vanished," said Jorge Espinoza, a senior official in the northeastern region of Huanuco.
"Some will be saved, but it appears the majority were buried."
The disaster in the village of Ambo was triggered by torrential rain that caused a lake higher up a mountain to overflow into a ravine, officials said.
The bodies of some victims were plucked from floodwater while others were dug out of the mud, local media reported.
Rescue crews, firefighters, soldiers and police have been searching for survivors and emergency aid has arrived for hundreds of people who have lost their homes.
It was unclear how many people were in the village when disaster struck.
Civil defence chief Hipolito Cruchaga said the slide killed at least 20 people, injured 50 others, with rescuers still hunting for 25 more.
However, some reports put the number of missing in the hundreds.
It was the second fatal mudslide in the Andean region this week.
On Thursday, five people were killed by a similar disaster in the town of Cancejos, officials said.
The rain has been particularly heavy over the past few months.
In February, Peruvian authorities warned of the El Nino weather phenomenon for three months along the coasts of Peru and Ecuador.
"An entire village, some 400 people, has completely vanished," said Jorge Espinoza, a senior official in the northeastern region of Huanuco.
"Some will be saved, but it appears the majority were buried."
The disaster in the village of Ambo was triggered by torrential rain that caused a lake higher up a mountain to overflow into a ravine, officials said.
The bodies of some victims were plucked from floodwater while others were dug out of the mud, local media reported.
Rescue crews, firefighters, soldiers and police have been searching for survivors and emergency aid has arrived for hundreds of people who have lost their homes.
It was unclear how many people were in the village when disaster struck.
Civil defence chief Hipolito Cruchaga said the slide killed at least 20 people, injured 50 others, with rescuers still hunting for 25 more.
However, some reports put the number of missing in the hundreds.
It was the second fatal mudslide in the Andean region this week.
On Thursday, five people were killed by a similar disaster in the town of Cancejos, officials said.
The rain has been particularly heavy over the past few months.
In February, Peruvian authorities warned of the El Nino weather phenomenon for three months along the coasts of Peru and Ecuador.