Torrential rains that hit much of Bolivia have killed at least 13 people and destroyed thousands of families, according to an official report released Sunday. "We have over 1.000 affected families, 13 people dead", said the Deputy Minister of Civil Protection, Juan Carlos Calvimondes, on public radio and television.
Mr Calvimontes said the situation in the province of Santa Cruz (east) was "very critical" as the Icillo, Grande and Piraeus rivers overflowed, flooding residential areas and farmland with cereals and oil crops.
In the community of San Julian, 32 people who the authorities could not reach otherwise are expected to be removed from the air in the next few hours, Calvimondes added.
The Bolivian National Meteorological Service has issued an emergency warning for torrential rains in the southern provinces of Potosi, Tsukisaka and Tariha. The country's television networks broadcast footage of swollen and overflowing rivers in La Paz, the capital, and Cochabamba.
(KYPE-APE-BPE-AFP / MAN / GBA)