Seven dead, more than 60 missing in Ecuador landslide

ALAUSI - Rescuers searched for more than 60 people reported missing after a landslide triggered by months of heavy rain killed at least seven people in southern Ecuador.

The mudslide happened overnight Sunday into Monday, burying dozens of homes and injuring 23 people in the village of Alausi in Chimborazo province, some 300 kilometres south of Quito, officials said.

Shocked residents, many in tears, stood waiting for news as crews with shovels, pick axes and sniffer dogs dug through the debris to get to survivors stuck between sheets of twisted metal and split tree trunks.

"Five are buried here," Manuel Upai, a 40-year-old laborer, told AFP, referring to relatives of his as he stared at the muddy ground. 

Alausi, a village of some 45,000 people surrounded by green hills, also saw several public buildings hit by the avalanche, which damaged roads and closed three schools.

Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso said on Twitter that firefighters from neighboring areas had been rushed to the village to help people affected by the tragedy.

He urged all citizens to evacuate the affected areas.

The government mobilized the national police, armed forces, the health ministry and the Red Cross to help with the rescue efforts.

"We have activated temporary accommodation and mobilized sleeping kits for those that have lost their homes," said a government statement on Twitter.

Since the start of the year, heavy rains in Ecuador have caused the deaths of 22 people, destroyed 72 homes and damaged more than 6,900 residences, according to the SNGR risk management secretariat.

The downpours have caused close to 1,000 dangerous events, such as landslides and flooding.