This is the moment a house collapse during a huge landslide which can be seen sweeping an entire block of flats along as it hits the Bolivian capital.
The landslide caused dozens of houses to collapse in the city of La Paz, the de facto capital of Bolivia.
In the video, firefighters can be seen watching as a house on a hill appears to begin sliding from its foundation.
Then a house closer to the road begins collapsing and is completely flattened as the emergency workers look on.
Another clip shows the huge landslide making its way down a steep hill pushing a block of flats along with it.
Dozens of houses were evacuated and according to official sources, nobody has died or been seriously injured in the landslide and nobody is missing.
Javier Zavaleta, the minister of Defence of Bolivia, told local media that a few residents were lightly injured during the evacuation, not the landslide.
Zavaleta said that a safe camping area will be set up for those affected by the landslide to receive sanitary assistance and food.
Local media report most of the neighbours who were evacuated did not have enough time to fetch their belongings and one said: “We don’t have beds or clothes, we have nothing. We don’t even have a bottle of water to drink.”
The area of the landslide, close to the city centre, was closed off for residents and emergency services because the landslide could be active “until at least tomorrow morning,” according to Zavaleta.
Over 200 rescuers are working in the area to help ensure residents’ safety.
The authorities said that the houses which had collapsed had been built without authorisation on land which was a landfill site in the 1970s and 1980s, so the owners of the houses could not have been the owners of the land.
Luis Revilla, the Mayor of La Paz, said the landfill rubbish had mixed with water and the land in the landslide.
Zavaleta said the weight of the houses and recent rains could have contributed to the landslide.
Revilla said to local media that around 60 families have been reportedly affected by the incident.
The landslide covered part of Kantutani Avenue, which connects the centre of La Paz with the southern part of the city and the road has been closed off.
Revillas had previously explained that heavy rainfall had caused water to leak out of “cracks in the landslide”.
Evo Morales, the President of Bolivia, sent a message of solidarity on social media to all the families affected and asked the Minister of Defence to “give the needed help”.
La Paz has around one million inhabitants and is located at an altitude of 3,600 metres in the Andes mountains.
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Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
