One Peruvian Town Wiped Off Map

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32314, 4 June 1970, Page 1

One Peruvian Town Wiped Off Map

(N.Z PA.-Retiter—Copyright) LIMA (Peru), June 3. One picturesque Andes tourist resort has been completely wiped off the map with all its 20,000 inhabitants; other towns and villages are all but obliterated or under water and the death toll is mounting past 35,000.

This was the grim picture which emerged today as rescue teams slowly began coming to grips with the situation in northern Peru, after the country was shattered on Sunday by a 40-second earthquake.

The worst single disaster was in the tourist resort of Yungay, nestled protectively between the Andean peaks of Huascaran and Juandoy, each more than 20,000 ft.

The town and its residents were swept away by avalanches set off by the earthquake, the Presidential press spokesman, Mr Augusto Zimmerman, said today.

| An air force pilot who flew a helicopter over the town said there was no trace of it left Mr Zimmerman quoted the pilot as saying: “There was just no trace of the town —just a cloud of dust”

Mr Zimmerman said some 14,000 others had apparently also died in surrounding villages and described the whole area as “very hard hit” Yungay was 250 miles ■north-east of Lima in a central valley. It was a town of narrow streets, Sunday markets and colourful festivals held by Indians who were the main inhabitants. The town was dominated by the Cathedra! of Santo Domingo and a central square surrounded by palm-lined streets. <

The military government of President General Juan Velasco Alvarado has declared eight days of national mourning for the dead, but did not suspend work during the mourning period. Relief Aid The Army yesterday began putting relief supplies and workers into the area, and Lieutenant-Colonel Enrique Flores Corzo, named by the Government as military and political chief of the devastated region, parachuted into the town of Huarez with doc-

I tors, Army nurses and radio I operators.

I Some 750 people were killed in Huarez. The town | was almost completely destroyed and 2500 were injured.

Among those killed were 100 young girls and their teachers who had gathered in Santa Elena School as part of celebration for Corpus Christi, an Army report said. The quake was centered just off the coast and registered six on the 12-point Mercalli scale and 7.7 on the open-ended Richter scale. Flooding was threatening to become a problem. Huge chunks of glaciers on moun tains th the central valley area were shaken loose and hurtled into lakes which overflowed. A number of small towns in the province of Yungay were apparently hit by floods after the quake when avalanches swept into Lake Yanganuco. More Tremors Earth tremors have continued in the region since

Sunday, and it is estimated that there have been nearly 100 tremors fierce enough to cause panic among the population.

Ships with food, tents, clothes and medical supplies have started sailing into the port of Chimbote, 264 miles north-west of Lima, which was badly damaged by the earthquake. The port was named as the centre for Government aid for the quake area. Hospitals in Chimbote were inadequate for the multitude of injured and there were no lights or telephones working in the city. Hundreds of vehicles were trapped throughout the north because of avalanches. A Ministry of Health official said that further problems centered on the thousands of survivors, including many injured, who were believed to be living in below freezing temperatures with little other than the clothes on their backs. Cars Stranded But the area is difficult fori travel, and hundreds of cars) are stranded on roads between i

avalanches. Communications are almost non-existent.

The Government has not yet issued a figure on the number of homeless, but estimates range from 80,000 to 200,000. The south of the country and Lima have suffered little damage. Four deaths from heart attacks were credited to the earthquake in Lima.