Fifteen people are confirmed to have died in landslides in Venezuela’s western Mérida state.
Streets in mountain villages were converted into raging torrents after torrential rains hit the area in the Andes.
Footage taken by locals showed cars being swept away and boulders strewn over muddy roads.
Most of fatalities occurred in the town of Tovar, where the Mocotíes river bust its banks after hours of rainfall.
Journalist Leonardo León tweeted footage taken by a Tovar resident of the entrance to the town.
#24Agos.Video de como quedó la entrada a Tovar.. Imágenes de un habitante de la zona. pic.twitter.com/BG7WBqRyXW
— Leonardo León (@leoperiodista) August 25, 2021
In another video, a resident can be heard describing how suddenly “a river came out of nowhere” sweeping away a local bakery.
Officials said that the electricity plant in Tovar had been damaged and that residents had neither power nor telephone connections.
It is not the first time the Mocotíes valley has been hit by deadly mudslides. In 2005, more than 40 people died and dozens went missing in the area when several rivers overflowed.
