Rio de Janeiro, Aug. 25, (dpa/GNA) – At least 13 people have been killed in flooding after heavy rain in Merida state in western Venezuela.
“We can speak of eleven dead as a result of torrential rain in the city of Tovar and of two children who died in the municipality of Pinto Salina in Santa Cruz de Mora,” state Governor Ramon Guevara said in a video published on Twitter on Tuesday.
A video posted by lawmaker Olivia Lozano showed vehicles being washed away by the surging water.
President Nicolas Maduro said a total of 35,646 people in 85 municipalities were affected by the flooding, VTV television reported.
Heavy rains, landslides and floods are common in the Andean region in western and south-western Venezuela.
In 1984, some 16 people were killed in a landslide as a result of heavy rains near Merida, and in 2005 storms claimed several dozen lives.
GNA