- Title: VENEZUELA: HELICOPTER BRINGING AID TO FLOOD VICTIMS CRASHES KILLING EIGHT
- Date: 24th December 1999
- Summary: CARACAS, VENEZUELA (DECEMBER 22 1999) (REUTERS) SCU BODY BAGS IN TRUCK SCU MEN REMOVING BODY BAGS (2 SHOTS) MV WORKERS WEARING FACE MASKS, MARKING COFFINS AND CARRYING COFFINS MV PRIEST WEARING A FACE MASK AND HOLDING AN UMBRELLA BLESSING COFFINS SLV MEN DIGGING GRAVES SLV COFFINS BEING LOWERED INTO GROUND (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LOCAL JUDGE IN CHARGE OF KEEPING DATA ON TH
- Embargoed: 8th January 2000 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: VARGAS AND CARACAS, VENEZUELA
- Country: Venezuela
- Topics: Accidents,General,Transport
- Reuters ID: LVA7E2TY5N6JJ3TV3Q9BIQ5EQ4IX
- Story Text: A helicopter bringing food to flood victims has crashed killing all eight people aboard.Meanwhile, authorities have continued burying those killed in the floods and mudslides.
Paratroopers patrolled a sea of mud and rubble on Wednesday (December 22 1999) in a Venezuelan coastal area devastated by killer mudslides, while a helicopter bringing food to survivors crashed, killing all eight people aboard.
The wreckage of the privately owned helicopter lay amid boulders and debris from last week's mudslides and flash floods in which up to 30,000 may have died.
"The rotor hit a high-tension electricity cable and it spiraled down and crashed in a ball of flames," said Gonzalo Paredes, a psychologist who witnessed the crash.Previous reports had said the helicopter was ferrying survivors from the area.
Defence Minister Raul Salazar said 6,400 troops were deployed through ghost towns in the Caribbean state of Vargas, as earthmovers ploughed through tonnes of debris from one of Latin America's worst mudslides.
With most victims buried beneath piles of mud, boulders and tree trunks, the exact death toll may never be known.
The area worst hit by mudslides was a 60-mile (100-km) stretch of Vargas, a popular vacation area for middle-class residents of Caracas, an hour's drive away.
Salazar said about 140,000 people were being evacuated in an air-and-sea rescue operation led by 13,000 troops, 5,000 volunteers, 40 helicopters and 16 warships since last Thursday.
Amid persistent looting by marauding gangs and reported cases of rape, soldiers with semi-automatic weapons combed the area while army helicopters dropped pamphlets warning those who remained behind to stay indoors at night.
Residents unwilling to leave said they set up vigilante groups armed with sticks and baseball bats to protect their belongings and were communicating at night by banging pots and pans to warn of danger.They also lit bonfires to cover the sickening smell of rotting corpses.
Firefighters with search dogs scoured streets turned into junkyards with wrecked cars piled high.Street signs poked out at knee level but some tall buildings were untouched by the deluge of mud and rocks that came crashing down from the Avila mountain range.
Visible corpses were doused with lime and marked with simple wooden crosses because "there is no time to identify them," said one rescue worker.
In Caracas, volunteers are still helping authorities with the burial of thousands of bodies.Pictures of the dead are being taken before burial in order to help identification once the immediate crisis is over.
With 23,000 homes destroyed and widespread damage to infrastructure, Venezuela, already battered by a recession, likely faced billions of dollars in cleanup costs and years of rebuilding. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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