Homes are destroyed after a lethal landslide that buried dozens of houses in Alausi, Ecuador, pictured on Monday.

Dolores Ochoa/AP

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Dolores Ochoa/AP

Homes are destroyed after a lethal landslide that buried dozens of houses in Alausi, Ecuador, pictured on Monday.

Dolores Ochoa/AP

QUITO, Ecuador — An enormous landslide swept over an Andean neighborhood in central Ecuador, burying dozens of houses and killing at the least 16 folks as rescuers frantically looked for survivors, authorities mentioned Monday.

Ecuador’s Risk Management Secretariat mentioned 16 folks had been injured and 7 remained lacking hours after the landslide Sunday in Alausí, about 137 miles (220 kilometers) south of the capital, Quito. The company estimated that 500 folks and 163 houses had been affected by the catastrophe, which additionally destroyed a portion of the Pan-American Highway.

The governor of Chimborazo, Ivan Vinueza, instructed The Associated Press that a number of the injured had been taken to space hospitals. Authorities initially issued an evacuation order as a result of imminent threat of recent landslides, however they lifted it a number of hours later.

Area residents instructed native media they heard tremors on the mountain earlier than the landslide, which is estimated to be about 150 meters (490 ft) huge and 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) lengthy. It dragged timber, houses and different buildings.

A soldier carries a canine discovered among the many rubble of buildings destroyed by a lethal landslide that buried dozens of houses in Alausi, Ecuador, on Monday.

Dolores Ochoa/AP

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A soldier carries a canine discovered among the many rubble of buildings destroyed by a lethal landslide that buried dozens of houses in Alausi, Ecuador, on Monday.

Dolores Ochoa/AP

Firefighters from half a dozen cities had been dispatched to the world to assist. More than a dozen rescuers stood on the fringe of the landslide as they labored to take away particles.

Video from cameras linked to nation’s emergency service community exhibits residents fleeing their houses with assist from neighbors. It additionally exhibits folks transporting home equipment and different belongings in automobiles.

The emergency response company mentioned 60% of potable water service within the space was affected by the landslide. The communication’s workplace of President Guillermo Lasso mentioned a shelter had been arrange and a few faculties could be switching to on-line courses.

Rescue work is carried out on the website of a landslide that buried dozens of houses in Alausi, Ecuador, on Monday.

Dolores Ochoa/AP

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Dolores Ochoa/AP

Rescue work is carried out on the website of a landslide that buried dozens of houses in Alausi, Ecuador, on Monday.

Dolores Ochoa/AP