(Caracas) A landslide caused by heavy rain killed three people in northern Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday, just over a week after a similar incident that killed more than 50 people .
Posted at 10:49 a.m.
“I am informed that there are three dead in El Castaño, it is a mudslide that came down from the mountain,” Maduro said.
Maduro made the announcement while visiting the town of Las Tejerias, devastated by a landslide on October 8 in north-central Venezuela. According to a latest assessment given by the president, this tragedy left 54 dead and eight missing.
According to the first elements, significant damage was caused by the landslide that occurred in El Castaño, a district of Maracay, the capital of the state of Aragua, located 83 km from Caracas.
Images from Venezuelan television showed mudslides devastating everything in their path, carrying away vehicles, trees and carrying huge rocks.
The El Palmarito river overflowed its bed after three hours of intense rainfall, noted an AFP team on the spot.
During the night, using the headlights of their cars, the soldiers and workers dispatched to the scene cleared the roads, covered with mud and rocks.
José Dos Santos, 56, has taken refuge in the highest part of his house.
“We could see towards the mountain, the rain was very heavy, we heard a roar and when I saw the water entering through the windows, I took my family and we went up”, he tells the AFP.
“It was horrible, I’ve lived here for 70 years and I’ve never seen this,” testified Nelida Rodriguez.