Six dead and eight missing, including government officials, following Zamora Chinchipe flood

Rescue workers continue their search for eight missing residents of the Cantzama and Santa Isabel communities in Zamora Chinchipe Province following flooding of the Zamora River early Saturday. Among the missing are Zamora Chinchipe Governor Ivonne Panchi and two provincial officials.

Rescue workers pull a man from a mudslide Sunday in Zamora Chinchipe Province.

Triggered by heavy overnight rains, the flooding destroyed homes, uprooted trees and killed an unknown number of cows, pigs and chickens. An estimated 200 hectares of banana and cassava crops were also destroyed.

More than 50 police officers and 60 soldiers were assigned to the rescue mission after Infrastructure Minister Roberto Luque declared a state of emergency in the province.

Governor Panchi was with a team of local and national government officials when they were inundated by a landslide, police say. The bodies of two members of the team have been recovered but Panchi remains unaccounted for.

Luque said Sunday he expected the number of dead and missing to increase in the coming days. He added that more than 100 people have been directly affected by the disaster.

According to provincial officials, 38 people have been transferred to hospitals and clinics in the area and another 37 have taken shelter at a nearby school. They say that 1,500 meals are being prepared by residents who were unaffected by the flood.

On Sunday night, the mayors and prefects from Zamora Chinchipe and Loja Provinces met with National Assembly members to coordinate rescue plans and the delivery of additional aid.