Jorge H. Quispe C. / La Paz
Four gold mining cooperative members died yesterday and two are still missing due to the fierce flooding of the Mapiri river, in the municipality of the same name, 168 kilometers from the city of La Paz, confirmed the mayor of that region, Alfredo Apaza, last night.
“So far we have four dead and two missing. In addition, the report of the cooperatives, some 40 settled on the banks of the river, indicates that work personnel are still missing. Until tomorrow (today) we will have an exact report ”, Apaza added. A ferocious overflow of the Mapiri river, between two and three in the morning yesterday, flooded the capital of that municipality and the gold cooperatives installed on the riverbank.
“The Consata river grew and that put pressure on and broke the retaining wall of one of the cooperatives and, consequently, the Mapiri river grew and surprised the workers, including drivers and support personnel,” the mayor told Página Siete. The four deceased are all men and members of the cooperatives that extract gold from those tributaries north of La Paz.
Until last night, two people were still missing, but that number is likely to rise because reports are expected from different mining cooperatives. Specialized personnel from the Vice Ministry of Civil Defense, assisted by a helicopter, work on search tasks.
At first, six people were reported missing, however, after the search tasks, four deceased were found. The bodies were taken to the town to be identified by their relatives.
Last night, at least two teams of military specialists were still working on the rescue of the bodies and the search for the other disappeared.
Affected families
As a result of the flooding of the river, some 25 families whose houses were on the banks of the Mapiri river were affected.
“Some houses were made of brick and some were made of wood. There are about 25 families affected and, well, tomorrow (today) we will do an inspection ”, he added. Mayor Apaza asked the Government for help, because, according to him, many lost their homes.
The Mayor’s Office of Mapiri requests supplies, food, mattresses, blankets and others for the people, many of them children, who were affected by the natural phenomenon.
From the La Paz Government, Secretary General Orlando Castillo reported that Governor Santos Quispe and a technical team traveled to Mapiri to provide assistance and collaborate with other experts in the search for the disappeared.
A disaster
Mayor Apaza also confirmed that the river took machinery, such as backhoes, mechanical shovels, water pumps and others.
“The river grew like very few times, it destroyed defenses and the water entered the houses,” said the journalist from Maputo Rudy Salcedo to this medium.
Images of the natural disaster in Mapiri show people crying over the loss of their families and homes and also how water entered the streets. In other photos sent by the journalist Salcedo, heavy machinery of the cooperative members is seen being dragged by the waters of the river.
The force of the tributary wiped out everything in its path and a final report of material losses is expected today or tomorrow.
The report of the cooperatives, which are about 40 on the banks of the river, indicates that work personnel are still missing
Alfredo Apaza, Mayor
