25 dead, more than 50 missing due to heavy rains in central Venezuela

Caracas, Oct 9 (EFE).- At least 25 people died – among them two minors – and 52 remain missing after heavy rains lashed Tejerias in the central Venezuelan state of Aragua, the country’s Executive Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said Sunday.

Hours later, the figure was again confirmed to EFE by officials from Venezuela’s police agency CICPC, backed by doctors operating on the ground.

Following heavy rains, a stream over-flooded its banks on Saturday and swept away houses and street furniture, as it inundated the streets of the locality.

The government on Sunday mobilized rescue and security agencies, as well as maintenance and cleaning crews, among others, to to attend to those affected, according to a tweet by President Nicolas Maduro.

Rodriguez told state broadcaster VTV that a large landslide occurred that caused the brooks to overflow, leading to “human losses” and large scale material damage.

The vice president said that, by orders of the president, the town of Tejerias was declared a “tragedy zone” and a three-day mourning was decreed.

She added that security agencies, including the armed forces, had been deployed to continue the search operations and restore normalcy.

Rodriguez also announced that shelters would be set up in the state of Aragua for all those who lost their homes in the tragedy.

She underlined that the public bank has been instructed to provide support to all traders who suffered losses and farmers who lost their crops.

Moreover, the authorities have been working to restore water supply, disrupted due to the flood and landslide.

Power supply has also been affected as the entire locality and its surrounding areas have been without electricity.

The United Nations office in Venezuela has announced a humanitarian aid for Tejerias, which will be rolled out in coordination with the Venezuelan authorities, tweeted UN resident coordinator Gianluca Rampolla, without giving further details

Different parts of Venezuela has been witnessing heavy rains recently.

So far, the death toll due to the rains in the last two weeks, in different parts of the country, has reached 45, according to national and regional organizations. EFE

sc-hp-sb/sc