SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela (Reuters) – Floods have killed at least 13 people in the western Venezuelan, the governor of the state of Merida said on Tuesday, following intense rains in the mountainous area that have triggered mudslides and caused rivers to overflow.
Images shared on social media show cars being swept down streets, buildings and businesses filled with mud, and mudslides that left boulders strewn across roads.
Merida Governor Ramon Guevara said 11 people were killed in the municipality of Tovar and two children were killed in the municipality of Antonio Pinto Salinas.
“The situation that we’re living through is very unfortunate,” Guevara said in comments to local media that were filmed and posted on Twitter. “Power is cut off because the waters reached the transformers, which caused them to halt.”
The area in question is an agricultural zone that provides food to other parts of the country.
(Reporting by Anggy Polanco in San Cristobal and Brian Ellsworth in Caracas; Editing by Howard Goller)
