Intense Rains Leave 11 Dead in The Capital of Ecuador

Quito City Mayor Santiago Guarderas announced that eleven people died as a result of a mudslide that affected his city on Monday.

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The intense rains also left 15 people injured, eight houses collapsed, and a roof of a sports field destroyed. Residents warned that the death toll could increase as the debris removal work progresses. Firefighters, police, and military participate in rescue tasks, debris removal, and care for affected citizens in La Comuna and La Gasca neighborhoods.

The storm that fell on the city on Monday reached 75 liters per square meter, a volume that set a record in the last two decades. The alluvium caused by the storm overwhelmed the capacity of the reservoir infrastructures for the rainwater that descends from the Pichincha volcano.

The current swept away everything in its path and when it reached La Comuna neighborhood, it collided with the enclosure of a small stadium, where several citizens practiced sports. Then the avalanche went down the hillside to the La Gasca neighborhood, where it dragged vehicles that were parked.

The national government and subnational governments sent teams of specialized people to Quito to collaborate with the resolution of the emergency. Paola Pabon, prefect of the Pichincha province whose capital is Quito, assigned machinery and personnel to collaborate in the emergency.

The heavy downpour that fell in Quito on Monday coincided with a wave of storms that have affected much of the country, especially in the Andean highlands and the coastal area.

According to reports from the Integrated Citizen Security Service ECU-911, the overflow of rivers affected some areas of the province of Cotopaxi in the mountains and the province of Los Rios on the coast.