Blog, Mexico
Landslide In Mexico Buries Up To 300 Homes; Hundreds Feared Dead
September 28, 2010 By Andrew OReilly
A view of Oaxaca City, about 80 KM from where mudslides buried around 300 homes.
A landslide caused by heavy rains in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca left hundreds dead and 300 families homeless.
The landslide occurred in the town of Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec around four in the morning, as a 650 foot-wide hill collapsed, sending tons of mud over as many as 300 houses.
“There has been lots of rain, rivers have overflowed and we’re having a hard time reaching the area because there are landslides on the roads,” Oaxaca state Governor Ulises Ruiz told the Televisa network, according to The BBC.
Rescue workers have flown in from Mexico City and emergency personnel have been sent, but some crews have been delayed due to the bad weather that has made several roads impassable.
“Police and rescue officials still have not arrived at the landslide zone and there are many landslides on the road,” one person posted on the Twitter internet blogging site, according to CNN.
Civil protection authorities declared a state of emergency Monday for the Oaxaca state municipalities of Oaxaca de Juárez, San Felipe Tejalapam, San Jacinto Amilpas, San Lorenzo Cacaotepec, San Pablo Etla, Santa Lucia del Camino and Tlalixtac de Cabrera, due to the severe weather.
