At least 43 dead in Venezuela landslide, more than 50 missing

At least 43 dead in Venezuela landslide, more than 50 missing
President Maduro visited the town on Monday (Oct 10), and vowed to rebuild "each and every home".
October 12, 2022, 2:00 pm

Some 3,000 soldiers and police officers, as well as rescue volunteers are helping in the rescue effort - Photo. Reuters

At least 43 people died in a massive landslide in northern Venezuela and more than 50 were believed to be missing, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said on Tuesday (Oct 11).

President Nicolás Maduro said the final death toll could reach 100.

Torrential rainfall caused the river El Pato to burst its banks on Saturday (Oct 8), causing floodwaters to wash away trees, cars, houses and shops in Las Tejerías town, some 50km south-west of the capital, Caracas.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro meanwhile said that the search for survivors of the Saturday landslide would continue, while pledging that his government would "rebuild this beautiful region."

More than 300 homes were destroyed and hundreds more were damaged.

Las Tejerías, with some 50,000 inhabitants, is located on an important industrial axis in Venezuela.

Maduro vows to rebuild town of Las Tejerías. (File photo AFP)

President Maduro visited the town on Monday (Oct 10), and vowed to rebuild "each and every home".

"We take with us the pain, the clamour, the despair, the tears of the people, but they must know that Las Tejerías will rise like the phoenix, Las Tejerías will be reborn," he said, quoted by AFP news agency.

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On Twitter, he wrote that he has instructed the Vice President, Delcy Rodriguez, to double the number of machines and trucks in the area, to speed up the recovery and rebuild.

This is Venezuela's worst natural disaster in decades. While the crisis-hit nation is used to heavy rainfall, Saturday's deluge was unusually torrential, with a month's worth of rain falling in the area in just eight hours, Ms Rodriguez said, as quoted by AFP.

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