LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) – Heavy rainfall in Bolivia over Saturday night time prompted the Pasajahuira river to overflow, flooding the neighborhood of Bajo Llojeta on the outskirts of La Paz and leaving many individuals trapped of their properties awaiting rescue groups.
“There was screaming and terrible desperation,” Bajo Llojeta’s municipal president, Julieta Clavijo, advised Reuters.
“A 4-year-old girl is missing and her parents are desperate. People had to leave their houses through the roofs because there was no other way to get out because the mud was already too deep,” Clavijo stated.
Civil protection vice minister Juan Carlos Calvimontes confirmed that rescue groups had been trying to find a younger woman.
At the very least 26 folks have been injured and greater than 40 homes broken by the flood, based on native authorities. Some 300 army personnel had been deployed to assist evacuate residents and clear up the realm.
President Luis Arce additionally visited the neighborhood and vowed to hold out “all the work necessary” the restore the realm and open an investigation into the causes of the catastrophe.
“It cannot remain like this,” he stated.
“My house is flooded and the mud keeps rising,” stated native resident Andrea Quispe. “We need more help, more equipment, this help is not enough. We still have time to save my house but no one is helping me.”
Heavy rainfall aggravated by late-season tropical storms has additionally ravaged Central America, reducing off complete communities in Honduras and destroying swathes of Costa Rica’s espresso crop.
