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| © Reuters. People walk along a damaged road after a flood near Santiago, Chile |
By Gram Slattery
SANTIAGO (Reuters) - At least three people are dead and 19 others missing after heavy rains
struck Chile over the weekend during the country's usually dry summer months, causing mudslides
and water outages in the South American nation, officials said on Sunday.
3 dead as floods cause landslides,
water cuts in Chile
February 26, 2017
February 26, 2017
The rains, which caused rivers to overflow their banks in mountain valleys near Chile's capital,
Santiago, had isolated 373 people, the Onemi emergency service said late on Sunday.
The drinking-water supply for over a million households in Santiago had been affected, and
The drinking-water supply for over a million households in Santiago had been affected, and
Aguas Andinas, the company that provides water to the capital, said rains were making
repairs difficult.
A woman tries to cross river rocks where there had been a bridge.
"Emergency teams are working on the ground to connect with isolated persons and
re-establish the water supply wherever possible," Chilean President Michelle Bachelet
wrote on Twitter.
In the O'Higgins region, south of Santiago, a 12-year-old girl was killed when a landslide
swept away the car in which she was traveling.
In the San Jose de Maipo valley, directly above the city, emergency crews had to clear the
roads of debris before residents could evacuate to lower, less mountainous ground.
It was the second major flooding event to hit central Chile in the past year. Last April, heavy
rains battered the San Jose de Maipo valley, killing one and shutting production at some of
the largest copper mines in the world.
Mining giants Antofagasta, state-owned Codelco [COBRE.UL], and Anglo American have
sizeable deposits in the zone affected by this weekend's rains.
All three said production had not been affected.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery; Editing by Peter Cooney)
All three said production had not been affected.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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