Heavy rain sparks landslide, flooding in Bolivian capital
CBC
A landslide caused by heavy rains after a prolonged drought in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, flooded dozens of homes early Sunday, local authorities said. It swept away a young girl, spurred evacuations and left parts of the city without electricity.
Torrential rain on Saturday caused a river to spill its banks, dislodging mud from a southwestern La Paz neighbourhood where low-slung, shoddily built dwellings dot the hillside.
The torrent of rocks and soil surged down a narrow ravine early Sunday, wrecking some two dozen homes and flooding another 40, said Juan Carlos Calvimontes, Bolivia's deputy civil defence minister.
"I lost my workshop, and the cars that I had there are buried," said auto mechanic Luis Mencias, his voice shaking as he surveyed the sea of debris.
Hours after the rain subsided, rescuers were still searching for a missing five-year-old girl in the inundated neighbourhood of Bajo Llojeta. Emergency workers trudged through the boot-sucking mud on Sunday, pulling at least six residents — suffering from hypothermia, their hair matted with sludge
