Cuenca Ecuador: At least two dead in landslide on Panamericana Highway, vehicles buried

A landslide on the Panamericana Norte avenue occurred in the Ucubamba sector in Cuenca, this Saturday, April 8, 2017. Photo: Courtesy / ECU 911 Estimates of the vehicles that could be involved are based on versions of witnesses who would have managed to get out of a van that was also buried.

The upper part of a red vehicle could be identified after the removal of debris from the collapse in the Panamericana Norte de Cuenca avenue. Photo: Courtesy Municipio de Cuenca The emergency service ECU 911 reported that rescue personnel, Red Cross, Fire Department and the Municipality of Cuenca work in the sector with caution for the possibility of a new landslide. The earth, marsh, undergrowth and trees cover the two lanes of the road, according to images spread by relief agencies.

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The debris completely blocked the Panamericana Norte, in Cuenca. Photo: Courtesy Municipio de Cuenca Due to the magnitude of the emergency, civilian agents of Transit, National Police and Transit Commission of Ecuador have been deployed, as well as rescue vehicles and ambulances of the Fire Department of Cuenca and the Red Cross. In addition, personnel of the Central Electric Company South Center monitor the place. The Risk Management Secretariat carries out an assessment of the situation at that point on the road. The Mayor of Cuenca said that a study will be carried out from the upper part, as it is assumed that the clogging of ravines would have caused the collapse of the slope. Read Article