At least 20 people dead and dozens missing after river floods in Bolivia

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“Unfortunately, (official figures) show a death toll of 20. We have dozens of people missing,” Deputy Civil Defense Minister Alfredo Troche said in an interview with Rádio Panamericana.

Heavy rains caused the river to overflow and the resulting flooding affected the communities of El Torno and Colpa Belgium, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia’s economic capital. More than 2,000 families were affected, Troche added. Some people found themselves stranded on rooftops and in treetops looking for shelter.

“My son ended up sleeping on the roof,” Elia Castro, a teacher from El Torno, told AFP.

Her son, detained in a juvenile detention center, had to climb to the top of the building with more than a hundred other inmates. Rescue teams intensified the search for the missing as more rain was forecast.

Over the weekend, President Rodrigo Paz convened a “crisis cabinet,” made up of ministers and senior police and armed forces officials. He warned that the rains would persist and that the country would face a “very complex situation”.

“In these first days of the rainy season, we have broken all the so-called records of the last 100 years,” warned the president who took office on November 8.

Rescue teams are still working to evacuate those remaining in the area. On Sunday, 281 people were evacuated, according to Civil Defense.

“Many people have been affected. The water has destroyed many farms, entire villages. We need help,” Jorge Trelles, a truck driver in El Torno, told AFP.

The National Meteorological and Hydrological Service of Bolivia (Senamhi) maintains a red alert in the region due to “sudden elevations with a high probability of flooding” on the Piraí River, in Santa Cruz. The agency also warned of the high probability of flooding on the Maniquí River, in the Amazon region of Beni, in the north of the country.