Number of Missing in Ecuador Landslide Falls to Six, Death Toll 24

People, soldiers, and rescue workers help with clean-up operations after torrential rains caused a landslide, sending mud and rocks down on residences and affecting electricity provision, in Quito, Ecuador, on Feb. 1, 2022. Johanna Alarcon/Reuters

QUITO—The mayor of Ecuador’s capital Quito revised the number of people missing after a landslide on Monday night from 12 to 6, although rescue work was still going on, while the death toll stood at 24.

Ecuador’s worst rains in nearly two decades overwhelmed a dam near the working class neighborhoods of La Gasca and La Comuna, sending mud and rocks down on residences and streets.

Mayor Santiago Guarderas told reporters the number of injured had increased to 52 and repair work would begin on dozens of affected homes.

Mud fills a street after a rain-weakened hillside collapsed and brought waves of mud over La Gasca area of Quito, Ecuador, on Feb. 1, 2022. Dolores Ochoa/AP Photo

Rescue workers carry away the body of a victim of flash flooding triggered by rain filling up nearby streams that burst their containment mechanisms, collapsing a hillside and bringing waves of mud over homes in La Gasca area of Quito, Ecuador, on Feb. 1, 2022. Dolores Ochoa/AP Photo

A car is seen in an area of a landslide ​in Quito, Ecuador, on Feb. 1, 2022. Jonatan Rosas/Reuters

“According to protocol firefighters have to do rescue work for 48 hours, after which they can begin clean-up efforts,” Guarderas said.

Ecuador is facing heavy rains in several areas which have caused rivers to overflow and affected hundreds of homes and roads. Rains in Quito on Monday were equivalent to 75 liters per square meter.

Footage obtained by Reuters showed a man struggling to free himself from the muddy waters rushing down a residential street on Monday, before he was swept away.

By Alexandra Valencia