(ANSA) - ALAUSI, MARCH 27 - Rescue efforts have been underway since Sunday evening in Ecuador, where months of heavy rains caused a landslide that left 7 dead and 46 missing.
The mudslide occurred late Sunday night in the village of Alausi in Chimborazo province, about 300km south of the capital.
The government's communications secretariat has revised the initial death toll by 16.
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso said on Twitter that firefighters from neighboring areas had been rushed to the village of "to assist affected citizens".
The government said it had mobilized the national police, the armed forces, the health ministry and the Red Cross to help with relief efforts.
"We have activated temporary housing for those who have lost their homes," says a government statement.
Since the beginning of the year, heavy rains in Ecuador have killed 22 people, destroyed 72 homes and damaged 6,900 others.
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