A landslide spurred by days of heavy rain and flooding devastated a city in Venezuela on Saturday and resulted in the deaths of at least 25 people. Fifty others remain missing, officials said Sunday.
The landslide came down unexpectedly on the Santos Michelena municipality in the state of Aragua, after days of heavy rainfall caused all five streams of the Las Tejerias river to overflow, according to Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez.
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Nicholas Maduro, the president of Venezuela, said he has activated 20,000 officials, including rescuers and members of security forces, to help with the landslide. He also issued a national three-day period of mourning.
“Due to the serious situation resulting from the large-scale landslide caused by the rains, I decreed in the communities that make up Las Tejerias a Natural Disaster and Catastrophe Zone, and 3 days of national mourning starting today,” Maduro tweeted on Oct. 9.
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The flood has affected 21 sectors in the Las Tejerias area of Santos Michelena, which has approximately 54,000 inhabitants. Dozens of homes have been damaged or destroyed by the landslide, and a shelter has been established for those unable to return home, according to the Associated Press. Search and rescue missions are ongoing.
The landslide was caused by heavy rain from Hurricane Julia, the fifth hurricane of the season, according to AccuWeather. Julia made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in Nicaragua at 3:15 a.m. EDT Sunday, with maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour.
