What was supposed to be a festive event turned into tragedy when the mudslide buried people who were attending a wedding celebration in Peru. Based on the reports, the wall of the wedding venue collapsed due to the sudden rush of thick mud and the roof eventually came crashing down on the guests who were on the dance floor at that time.
According to Yahoo News, the latest Peru mudslide killed 15 people and injured 34. 13 of the guests were killed instantly while the two had died while being treated at a nearby hospital. The fatalities include 11 woman and four men.
The tragedy happened on Sunday, Jan. 27 in Abancay, Peru and it was reported that the newlyweds were lucky to have survived the disaster. The city's mayor Evaristo Ramos explained that the mudslides were caused by continuous heavy rains in the area. It was said that the downpour has been going on for five days already.
"The mudslide broke through the walls of the hotel, crashing through," the mayor told RPP radio.
The police, firefighters and civilian volunteers went hand in hand to rescue the victims trapped in the hotel after the avalanche of mud. Everyone work round-the-clock to save those who were still trapped in the hotel. As of this time, out of the 34 injured people, five are in critical state.
On the other hand, Jorge Chavez, the Civil Defense Chief, said that 100 people attended the wedding celebration and while everyone was dancing, the mud rushed in at the Alhambra hotel in the Andean city of Abancay.
As per New York Times, mudslides in Peru are very common, in fact, hundreds died in 2017 after the mud covered an entire town. Catastrophic mudslides in this country often erase villages in the map so the locals always feel frightened when there are heavy rains that usually last for more than a week.
The sudden surge of mud is a big problem in Peru since wreak havoc in the region and cause flooding as well. These are destructive and people are blaming climate change for the tragedy.
Meanwhile, while the search for missing relatives in the past weekend's mudslides is ongoing, Fox News reported that the residents are also dealing with water crisis due to clogged water treatment systems. People were forced to queue in order to get clean drinking water.
