Heavy rain caused a flood left at least seven dead during a religious meeting in which about 40 people participated in the state of Táchira, a region of the Venezuelan Andes bordering Colombia.
“In the upper part of the mountain there was a copious waterfall, which produced a barrage that took away a group of people”, indicated this Saturday the governor of Táchira, Freddy Bernal, in statements broadcast on his social networks.
“Until this moment seven bodies have been extracted, of which four are unidentified, we continue the search for three bodies”, He reported on the event recorded on Friday.
It is a “regrettable tragedy” that involved members “of the Methodist church” who were in a riverBernal said about the Protestant Christian religious group that had gathered in the tourist area for a “coexistence.”
36 people participated in the activity. The flood occurred while some were bathing in the river, which abruptly increased its flow, dragging several people.
The search work, made difficult by the geographical characteristics of this mountainous region and the low temperatures, continued late Saturday night to try to recover the other bodies.
Among the rescued victims, some had hypothermia, according to the rescuers in images broadcast on social networks.
Venezuela has registered in 2022 a period of rains above the average, according to authorities, which has left damage in several regions. Government spokesmen attribute the copious rainfall to the incidence of the climatic phenomenon La Niña.
Developing…
(With information from AFP)
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