File photo of Bolivia's Cajones River
Tue Sep 24, 2013 4:40PM GMT
28
At
least 16 people died and a dozen others went missing after a mudslide
triggered by heavy rainfall swept vehicles off a road and into a river
in Bolivia's northeastern Amazon region, officials say.
A bus, a minibus and a car were swept off the road on Monday near the village of Caranavi, about 180 kilometers (110 miles) north of La Paz, Colonel Juan Cuevas, a traffic police official, said Tuesday.
The vehicles were travelling along Bolivia's "Death Road" before falling down a 100-meter ravine and into the Cajones River, the official said.
The persistent rain has complicated rescue efforts, though officials marked the death toll as high as 16, stressing that it could rise further due to fears that more bodies are buried under the landslide.
Around 10 people have survived the accident.
The event marked the latest landslide disaster in Bolivia. In February 2011, over 300 homes were destroyed by a massive landslide in the country’s capital city, La Paz.
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