How do criminal gangs operate in illegal mining?
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(CNN Spanish) -
A sinkhole affected several homes in the historic center of Zaruma, in the El Oro province located in southwestern Ecuador, the National Risk Management Service reported in a statement.
The ECU 911 shared videos of the sinking and collapse of a house to CNN and confirmed that they correspond to what happened on Wednesday night in Zaruma.
The president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, said through his Twitter account that he has asked the competent bodies to guarantee help for the affected families.
Officials from the Fire Department, ECU 911 and the National Service for Risk and Emergency Management of Ecuador are attending to the emergency and have reported that the inhabitants of the affected areas are being evacuated.
It is unknown if there were still people inside the collapsed structure.
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Units at the site keep the perimeter where the subsidence was recorded closed.
The inhabitants of Zaruma insist that the historically known illegal mining activities in the area are putting the lives of the inhabitants and their historical and colonial value at risk.
Zaruma is one of the oldest cities in Ecuador that is on the UNESCO list to be considered as cultural heritage of humanity.