Rainstorms and landslides in Chile killed four and contaminated a major river, forcing authorities to cut off drinking water to 4 million people in the capital, authorities said.
The torrential rain that started on Saturday prompted mudslides and rubble to surge into the Maipo River, which supplies most homes in the capital.
“We are talking about 1.45 million homes that are going to be affected by the cutting off of the water supply, which will be total or partial in 30 districts” of Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region Governor Claudio Orrego told a news conference.
Photo: AP
He said the cut would therefore affect more than 60 percent of the city’s 6.5 million population — about 3.9 million people.
The move prompted many people to go out with buckets and pans to collect water at emergency water taps made available by the authorities.
Others rushed to supermarkets to bag bottles of water from the shelves.
“We still do not know when the drinking water will be turned back on,” Orrego told reporters.
“We cannot guarantee resumption of the service until the River Maipo clears up,” he added.
Authorities ordered restaurants and businesses without drinking water to stay closed.
They also postponed the start of a new school term yesterday.
The Chilean Ministry of the Interior said four people were known to have died and six were missing due to the rain.
A rainstorm hit near the river in the countryside east of Santiago.
“The force of nature swept away bridges and left 1,200 people cut off” in Cordillera Province, provincial Governor Vanessa Marimon said.
The ministry said 3,300 people were cut off overall by floods.
Heavy rain also caused flooding in the northern Antofagasta region and in the tourist district of San Pedro de Atacama.
“Emergency teams are working on the ground to connect with isolated persons and re-establish the water supply wherever possible,” Chilean President Michelle Bachelet wrote on Twitter.
In the O’Higgins region, south of Santiago, a 12-year-old girl was killed when a landslide swept away the car in which she was traveling.
In the San Jose de Maipo Valley, directly above the city, emergency crews had to clear streets and roads of debris before residents could evacuate to lower, less mountainous ground.
It was the second major flooding event to hit central Chile in the past year. In April last year, heavy rains battered the San Jose de Maipo Valley, killing one and shutting production at some of the largest copper mines in the world.
Mining giants Antofagasta, state-owned Codelco and Anglo American have sizeable deposits in the zone affected by this weekend’s rains.
All three said production had not been affected.
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