Landslides caused by heavy rains in Ecuador kill at least seven people

Euronews and AP

18 June 2024 at 3:58 pm·1-min read

Landslides caused by heavy rains in Ecuador kill at least seven people

A landslide surged over a highway in central Ecuador on Sunday, killing at least seven people and leaving dozens more missing as heavy rains pummeled the country and caused rivers to overflow.

It comes as heavy rains have drenched Ecuador and other parts of the region over the past several days.

Authorities in the country say the flood of mud and debris ploughed down the hillside and hit three cars, two houses, and a bus in the Ecuadorian resort city of Baños.

Rescuers were treating nine injured and had retrieved seven bodies from the disaster site, while 30 people were believed to be trapped according to the Deputy Fire Chief Capt. Angel Barriga.

The storms sent a deluge of mud and floodwaters crashing into highways and bridges, severing the main road connecting Ecuador’s highlands to its Amazonian provinces.

BuzzFeed
Ex-Millionaires Are Revealing How They Lost All Their Money, And I'm Actually Speechless
"And that's how my mother lost a multi-million dollar inheritance and got stuck with a $50k funeral bill..."
Reuters Videos
S.Korea factory fire shows risks for migrant workers
STORY: Surveillance footage shows the moment a deadly fire started at a South Korean battery manufacturer and killed 23 workers on Monday (June 24). The video shows smoke coming from a stack of lithium batteries. And in a factory which contained around 35,000 of them, the fire quickly evolved into a huge blaze which then sparked explosions. The now-gutted structure was in Hwaseong, an industrial cluster southwest of the capital Seoul.Firefighters with search dogs combed the remains on Tuesday (June 25) and found the body of the last unaccounted-for person, raising the death toll to 23.The father of one victim, while trying to find the body of his Chinese national daughter, told Reuters she had called the batteries “dangerous” multiple times.And he said she had recently told him about another fire at the factory. Most of the victims are yet to be identified because of the intensity of the blaze.But at least 17 were Chinese and one was Laotian.Experts say foreign workers in the country face a disproportionate risk of injury and death.And that they take on dangerous jobs shunned by many young South Koreans. On Tuesday, China’s foreign ministry said Beijing has called on South Korea to find the cause of the fire as quickly as possible.The chief executive of the battery maker Aricell apologized for the incident - but said the company had complied with safety rules. “The company will do its best to deal with this situation and will take on a firm responsibility. In addition, we will sincerely work on the investigation of the relevant authorities and will make every effort to follow up on the exact cause of the accident and prevent recurrence.”The National Forensic Service, police and the fire department are holding a joint investigation into the incident.
CNN
Japanese mother and child stabbed in China in front of school bus
A Japanese woman and her child were stabbed by a man on Monday in front of a school bus at a bus stop in eastern China, according to Japanese authorities.
INSIDER
Chinese authorities used bubble wrap to secure a hand grenade kept by villagers for 20 years to smash nuts and hammer nails
A video posted by the Baokang Public Security Bureau showed two men in hard hats and a uniformed officer placing the grenade in a plastic sleeve.
AFP News
Nepal convicts 'Buddha boy' of child sex abuse
A Nepali man whose followers believe him to be a reincarnation of Buddha has been convicted of child sexual abuse, a court official said Tuesday."The district court on Monday found Bomjan guilty of child sex abuse," said Sikindar Kaapar, information officer at the court in Nepal's southern town of Sarlahi.
HuffPost
Nancy Pelosi Delivers Blistering 5-Word Trump Prediction
The former House speaker slammed the former president’s rhetoric after she was asked about her husband’s recovery from a 2022 hammer attack.
The Telegraph
I salute the nurses who took a stand against this women-have-penises nonsense
Three cheers for Bethany Hutchison, Lisa Lockey, Annice Grundy, Tracey Hooper and Joanne Bradbury. Their names are unknown as yet, but these brave nurses could easily become as significant in the annals of feminist history as the Ford Dagenham women and the Suffragettes. Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, the five nurses who work at Darlington Memorial Hospital, which comes under the control of County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, have filed a legal action against the Trust c
KameraOne
Man miraculously survives plunge from eighth floor in apartment blaze escape
On June 4, a man was in a scary situation while trying to escape an apartment fire in the Chinese province of Zhejiang. He hangs from an eighth-floor balcony as the blaze engulfs the apartment. Onlookers could only watch in fear as the man tried to figure out an escape. He jumped from the building and was caught by rescuers using a blanket. Both rescuers were hurt but the man's life was saved.
The Independent
Watch view of Bangkok airport where plane carrying Julian Assange has landed
Watch view of Don Mueang International Airport, Bangkok, on Tuesday 25 June, where a plane believed to be carrying Julian Assange has landed. Mr Assange, 52, has agreed to plead guilty to a single criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents, according to filings in the US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. Mr Assange left Belmarsh prison in the UK on Monday before being bailed by the UK High Court and boarding a flight that afternoon, Wikileaks said in a statement posted on social media platform X.
CNN
The former executive assistant to a tech CEO found decapitated in a Manhattan apartment in 2020 has been convicted of murder
The former executive assistant of a tech CEO was found guilty Monday of murdering his boss – whom he then decapitated and dismembered – in 2020, according to a news release from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
BBC
US couple 'walked for hours' before dying in Hajj heat
The two pilgrims' daughter says a tour agency they used had failed to provide basic necessities.
BBC
US soldier charged in Japan for rape of minor
The case is likely to stoke the long-standing local opposition to US military presence.
Evening Standard
Julian Assange reunited with wife Stella as he touches down in Australia as a free man
The Wikileaks founder is now a free man
The Independent
Body found in search for missing hiker, 50, who had called relatives saying she ‘needed water’
Police said they have found a body they ‘do believe’ to be the missing female hiker who went missing on a San Diego trail amid extreme temperatures
People
Death of Woman Who Accused Cop of Sex Abuse Was Ruled Suicide. But Prominent Pathologist Doesn't Think So
Sandra Birchmore was pregnant at the time of her death in 2021
CNN
Steve Bannon’s New York criminal fraud trial will no longer be overseen by judge who presided over Trump’s hush money trial
Steve Bannon’s upcoming criminal fraud trial in New York will no longer be overseen by the same judge who presided over former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial, and instead a new judge has been reassigned to take the case.
AFP News
Ex-spy handler of Hamas co-founder's son says PM 'destroying' Israel
On a Tel Aviv overpass, former spy Gonen Ben Itzhak addresses a small gathering of flag-waving protesters worried about the future of Israel under longest-serving premier Benjamin Netanyahu.- 'The Green Prince' - Ben Itzhak -- who joined the security services in the 1990s after premier Yitzhak Rabin's assassination -- has become a leading figure in protests against Netanyahu.
CNN
Texas is set to execute Ramiro Gonzales today amid appeals arguing he’s no longer a threat nor eligible for the death penalty
Texas on Wednesday is scheduled to execute Ramiro Gonzales for a 2001 murder, though the inmate’s attorneys have appealed to the US Supreme Court, arguing in part that he should be ineligible for the death penalty under state law because he is no longer dangerous.
CNN
‘This is the blood of my son’: While Israel hailed rescue of four hostages, Palestinians recall the horrors
On the day that Israel rescued four hostages, its forces allegedly attacked a Palestinian family’s home in Nuseirat camp, central Gaza, and killed a child.
The Independent
What is Joe Biden’s net worth?
Two-thirds of president’s net worth is tied up in real estate after decades of buying and selling homes in Delaware and surrounding areas

Latest stories