Landslides that occurred after heavy rains in central and southern Peru left 18 dead, 27 injured and 20 missing, according to a latest report from the National Civil Defense Institute (Indeci) released on Friday.
The previous death toll was 16.
Seventeen people lost their lives after landslides occurred on Sunday afternoon in the district of Mariano Valcarcel, in the province of Camana, west of the city of Arequipa and 840 km to the south from the capital Lima.
An eighteenth person died in the Junin region in the center of the country, 310 km east of Lima, after a landslide that took place “in the early hours” of Friday following “heavy rain in the area,” Indeci reported.
Houses, sanitary facilities and roads were destroyed in the Arequipa region in particular. According to its governor, there is a high probability that miners have been trapped in collapsed gold mines.
Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, who has been facing a wave of protests since December calling for her resignation and the dissolution of parliament, visited the site on Tuesday and inspected the damage during an overview of the region where mining activity is important.