Scores missing, 25 dead in Venezuela floods

Heavy rains which flooded five small rivers in central Venezuela have killed at least 25 people and left 52 missing.

Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said the downpour swept large tree trunks and debris from surrounding mountains into the community of Tejerias, 40 miles (67 kilometers) southwest of Caracas, damaging businesses and farmland.

Rodriguez said a month’s worth of rain had fallen in just eight hours and pumps used to power the community’s drinking water system was carried away in the flood waters.

“What has happened in the town of Tejerias is a tragedy.

 “We have lost boys, and girls,” the vice president said from a flooded street in Tejerias.

The streets of Tejerias, a town of about 73,000 inhabitants, were filled with mud, boulders, and tangled tree branches and lined by boarded-up houses.

Also Read: Flood: Western Venezuela death toll rises to 20 

President Nicolas Maduro said in a tweet that he had designated the area a disaster zone and had declared three days of mourning.

Rodriguez said the priority was to locate people still trapped under mud and rocks throughout the town, while military and rescue personnel also searched the riverbanks for survivors.

He added that the downpour also caused landslides in three other central states but claimed no victims.

One of the flooded rivers, the El Pato, swept away several houses, shops, and a slaughterhouse, according to search and rescue authorities.

Carlos Perez, deputy minister for the country’s civil protection system, said in a Sunday tweet that a thousand rescuers were looking for victims in the area.

The deaths bring the total killed in recent weeks to at least 40 due to heavy rains caused by the La Nina weather pattern.

Zainab Sa’id