It is estimated that more than 100 cars are stuck on both sides of the road, in the middle of a deep abyss.
Ibarra
The northern Sierra is cut off from the Ecuadorian coast by the Ibarra-Salinas-Lita-San Lorenzo or Mira (Carchi) -Lita-San Lorenzo roads. The strong winter takes its toll on the road network after the presence of continuous landslides in different sections of the road.
In the El Guadual sector, on the Imbabura-Esmeraldas interprovincial limit, a landslide from the mountain took a large part of the road table on Wednesday. No fatalities were recorded.
Community members of the sector pointed out that all week the rains have been intense and prolonged, which caused the destruction of this part of the artery that connects Carchi and Imbabura with Esmeraldas, in the north of the country.
A driver who was narrowly swept away by the alluvium said that the hum of the mountain, with the immense load of mud, stones and water falling from the top, alerted several vehicles, which decided to reverse and move away from danger.
It is estimated that more than a hundred cars are stuck on both sides of the road, in the middle of a deep abyss.
Fernando Rea, director of the Ministry of Transport and Public Works (MTOP) in the northern zone, stated that the damage is considerable: 150 meters from the road table were left.
Landslide in Chimbo caused damage to homes and the road; at least five families were affected
The official commented that everything began this Tuesday at dawn, with a small landslide in El Guadual, km 115.2, but that then the cleaning was carried out until night; But this Wednesday, at 09:00, a new landslide disabled 150 meters.
At 11:00, 600 meters further, a new fall of rocky material from the hill took the entire table, leaving the two provinces cut off.
This Wednesday, after 17:00, the Technical Table No. 3 of Assistance Services of the COE of Imbabura will be activated to find a solution.
The technician did not specify when the road will be enabled, since it is a major breakdown. More than eight machines from the MTOP, Prefecture, Municipality of Ibarra and parish governments work in the area.
At the moment it is difficult to build a variant, because the problem arose on a rock, said Rea. Marcelo Cabrera, Minister of Transportation and Public Works, reported in Esmeraldas that he has asked the zonal director to draw up a report to intervene in this route, which is the responsibility of this ministry.
Regarding the problems in the El Chimbo sector, Minister Cabrera indicated that he has the report that details damage caused by a poorly constructed sewer system by the municipality, which affected a section of the table. (I)
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