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American Morning

In Ecuador, Heavy Rains Bring High Death Toll

Aired June 13, 2001 - 09:25   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Four days of heavy rains have brought tragedy to Ecuador. A mud slide there killed at least 36 people yesterday, and rescue efforts are being hampered by the weather.

CNN's Dave Johnson has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVE JOHNSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The victims were seeking warmth by a fire, stranded after their cars were blocked by an earlier avalanche. They huddled in a makeshift shelter just a few hundred meters from the buses, trucks and cars they were forced to abandon. Around dawn, a river of mud and stone tumbled down the mountainside, burying those in its path.

From daybreak until dark, rescuers struggled to pull the victims from the mud slide, but the steep, muddy terrain hampered the operation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hard to get to them, and there have been several landslides over the past couple of days, which means crossing from one part of the terrain to another is a time-consuming process, which of course is not helping with rescuing these people.

JOHNSON: Officials say several days of heavy rains flooded 10 provinces across Ecuador. At least 400 homes are destroyed, along with livestock and other property.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I've been walking since yesterday at 4:00 in the morning. We woke up on the other side -- there are dead on the other side.

JOHNSON: A landslide also ruptured main oil pipeline, sparking a fire that injured a number of people before brought under control.

Officials say the death toll so far in the storms reached 41 people. Rescue operations at the site of deadly landslide were halted overnight because authorities feared further avalanches in the continuing rains.

Dave Johnson, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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