The Fort Worth Press - 22 dead, dozens injured as flooding hits Ecuador capital

USD -
AED 3.67302
AFN 70.177799
ALL 94.694858
AMD 399.571201
ANG 1.800481
AOA 912.000034
ARS 1027.729361
AUD 1.603355
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.697676
BAM 1.879673
BBD 2.017107
BDT 119.384911
BGN 1.881012
BHD 0.376934
BIF 2953.447033
BMD 1
BND 1.357194
BOB 6.903412
BRL 6.21685
BSD 0.999039
BTN 85.070401
BWP 13.87506
BYN 3.26939
BYR 19600
BZD 2.010284
CAD 1.43675
CDF 2870.000189
CHF 0.90009
CLF 0.03586
CLP 989.480209
CNY 7.298801
CNH 7.306215
COP 4373.91
CRC 507.256127
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 106.009258
CZK 24.10875
DJF 177.904853
DKK 7.171097
DOP 60.855358
DZD 135.127343
EGP 50.858598
ERN 15
ETB 127.201346
EUR 0.96095
FJD 2.31865
FKP 0.791982
GBP 0.797448
GEL 2.810197
GGP 0.791982
GHS 14.690824
GIP 0.791982
GMD 71.999964
GNF 8634.310428
GTQ 7.698187
GYD 209.014897
HKD 7.76805
HNL 25.382989
HRK 7.172906
HTG 130.598126
HUF 395.534005
IDR 16213
ILS 3.64741
IMP 0.791982
INR 85.38525
IQD 1308.697741
IRR 42087.498013
ISK 139.549837
JEP 0.791982
JMD 155.655935
JOD 0.709299
JPY 157.086031
KES 129.119811
KGS 86.99942
KHR 4014.412683
KMF 466.124975
KPW 899.999441
KRW 1457.470401
KWD 0.30818
KYD 0.83258
KZT 517.549255
LAK 21848.149928
LBP 89462.854397
LKR 294.435368
LRD 181.893348
LSL 18.576261
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.604891
LYD 4.904373
MAD 10.074676
MDL 18.432484
MGA 4712.157617
MKD 59.135031
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.99987
MOP 7.992119
MRU 39.880827
MUR 47.070154
MVR 15.402589
MWK 1732.340221
MXN 20.164402
MYR 4.487015
MZN 63.903729
NAD 18.576261
NGN 1541.640096
NIO 36.761173
NOK 11.628915
NPR 136.06247
NZD 1.771166
OMR 0.384748
PAB 0.999039
PEN 3.720135
PGK 4.054781
PHP 58.591972
PKR 278.129073
PLN 4.094575
PYG 7791.44642
QAR 3.634825
RON 4.784295
RSD 112.416046
RUB 99.929361
RWF 1393.656896
SAR 3.75514
SBD 8.383555
SCR 14.26593
SDG 601.501981
SEK 11.078902
SGD 1.3585
SHP 0.791982
SLE 22.8039
SLL 20969.503029
SOS 570.975493
SRD 35.057966
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.741951
SYP 2512.530243
SZL 18.584334
THB 34.159588
TJS 10.933512
TMT 3.51
TND 3.186697
TOP 2.342101
TRY 35.177625
TTD 6.789044
TWD 32.699497
TZS 2419.99986
UAH 41.889284
UGX 3656.895723
UYU 44.484182
UZS 12897.645363
VES 51.575121
VND 25425
VUV 118.722003
WST 2.762788
XAF 630.424796
XAG 0.033795
XAU 0.000382
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.765978
XOF 630.424796
XPF 114.617972
YER 250.375036
ZAR 18.612085
ZMK 9001.2026
ZMW 27.648246
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    59.8000

    59.8

    +100%

  • SCS

    0.0800

    11.73

    +0.68%

  • NGG

    -0.1600

    58.86

    -0.27%

  • VOD

    0.0600

    8.43

    +0.71%

  • BCC

    0.9500

    123.19

    +0.77%

  • RIO

    -0.0300

    59.2

    -0.05%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    7.24

    -0.14%

  • GSK

    -0.0300

    34.03

    -0.09%

  • RELX

    0.3000

    45.89

    +0.65%

  • CMSC

    -0.1321

    23.77

    -0.56%

  • CMSD

    0.1000

    23.65

    +0.42%

  • BP

    0.0400

    28.79

    +0.14%

  • BTI

    0.0400

    36.26

    +0.11%

  • BCE

    0.0600

    22.9

    +0.26%

  • AZN

    -0.3300

    66.3

    -0.5%

  • JRI

    0.0500

    12.15

    +0.41%

22 dead, dozens injured as flooding hits Ecuador capital
22 dead, dozens injured as flooding hits Ecuador capital

22 dead, dozens injured as flooding hits Ecuador capital

The heaviest flooding to hit Ecuador in two decades has killed at least 22 people in Quito, inundating homes, swamping cars and sweeping away athletes and spectators on a sports field, officials said Tuesday.

Text size:

Twenty people are missing and 47 injured, Ecuador's SNGRE emergency service said on Twitter.

Video footage showed torrents of water carrying stones, mud and debris down streets in the Ecuadoran capital, as rescuers helped inhabitants wade through the fast-running currents to safety.

Many in the city of 2.7 million people were taken to shelters.

Rain that drenched Quito for 17 straight hours caused a deluge that damaged roads, agricultural areas, clinics, schools, a police station and an electric power substation.

Quito mayor Santiago Guarderas said a downpour had overwhelmed a hillside water catchment structure that had a capacity of 4,500 cubic meters but was inundated with more than four times that volume.

The resultant failure sent a kilometer-long (half-mile-long) deluge through a sports field where volleyball players were practicing with spectators on the sidelines.

"People who were playing couldn't get away. It grabbed them suddenly," witness Freddy Barrios Gonzalez told AFP.

"Those who managed to run were saved (but) a family got buried" under a river of mud, added Gonzalez, his own clothes still muddy from the ordeal.

"There they died."

It was not immediately known how many of the players or spectators were among the total number of dead and injured.

Soldiers with rescue dogs were scouring the area around the field for survivors.

Quito police chief Cesar Zapata did not rule out finding more bodies under thousands of cubic meters (cubic feet) of mud and debris left behind by the flood.

- 'Rivers of mud' -

Rescuer Cristian Rivera said many people in Quito had to be treated for hypothermia.

The municipality has mobilized heavy machinery to clear roads and fix the failed water catchment system.

Resident Mauro Pinas said he heard "an explosion" when the structure burst, after which "rivers of mud" descended on the city -- mainly in the northwest.

Power was lost in some parts after electrical poles were brought down.

Dozens of soldiers were deployed to assist in search and rescue efforts of the police and fire brigades.

The flooding began on the slopes of the Pichincha volcano, which overlooks the nation's capital.

Guarderas said Monday's rainfall brought down 75 liters (20 gallons) per square meter (square foot) following 3.5 liters on Saturday.

This is "a record figure, which we have not had since 2003," he added.

President Guillermo Lasso, who traveled to China on Monday, offered his condolences on Twitter to those affected.

"We continue to work in search and rescue, containment actions, psychological care and the transfer of injured people to hospital," he said.

Heavy rains have hit 22 of Ecuador's 24 provinces since October, leaving at least 18 dead and 24 injured as of Sunday, according to the National Risk Management Service.

Scientists say climate change is intensifying the risk of heavy rain around the world because a warmer atmosphere holds more water.

C.Dean--TFWP