(Arequipa) “I have nothing left, nothing left at all”, laments Carmen Manchego whose house was buried by a landslide in the mining town of Pampaylima, Peru, which is now only a field of ruins.
Torrential rains fell at the end of last week on the district of Mariano Valcarcel, in the region of Arequipa (southwest), causing the collapse of the San Martin pass.
The municipality of the same name, as well as those of Posco, Miski and Urasquia, were devastated by mudslides and rockfalls, which left a total of 18 dead and around 20 missing.
“My house is there,” shows AFP Carmen Manchego, a 53-year-old housewife who is one of the 4,320 victims. “Everything, everything, everything was washed away, everything was buried”.
A few residents of Pampaylima struggle to salvage their belongings from the disaster, amid the rubble of prefabricated dwellings. The ground floors of some two-story buildings were completely submerged.
PHOTO DIEGO RAMOS, AGENCY FRANCE-PRESSE
“In my house, everything, everything is covered. We have to see if we can recover anything, valuables, machines, above all,” explains Eleuterio Condeña, 55. Like most of its neighbours, it is a miner in one of the gold mines in these mountains located 800 kilometers south of the capital Lima.
The economic losses and the cessation of mining activity in the village will have enormous consequences.
50 pounds on the back
Most of the inhabitants of Pampaylima come from neighboring regions such as Ica or Ayacucho and are only here temporarily. With families in need, it is impossible to stop working.
Some seek to make a living in the San Martin and Arapa mines, from where they carry 50-kilogram sacks of ore on their backs to be refined further on in Secocha. All on foot, because a section of the road that connects the cities was damaged by the landslide.
In Secocha, gold sells for around $31 per gram. Each miner earns between 30 and 38 dollars per day.
According to official figures, the landslide damaged 40% of the electricity network in the Valcarcel district and more than 500 houses were destroyed or are now uninhabitable. Thousands more were affected.
“We sleep in the tents that civil protection gave us. And we eat in the refectory, where help also arrives,” says Carmen Manchego.
Those who cannot find a place spend the night outside, on top of the hills.
“We would like to be relocated once everything is over,” asks Nelly Huillca, 35, also an artisanal miner.