On Sunday, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro decreed three days of national mourning after confirming the death of 22 citizens and the disappearance of 52 people in Las Tejerias, in the state of Aragua, as a result of a landslide that took place on Saturday night.
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To facilitate recovery actions, he also declared the communities of Las Tejerias, the epicenter of the landslide and flooding, as a "Natural Disaster and Catastrophe Zone."
Earlier in the morning, Maduro asked Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, his ministers and all security agencies to carry out "the maximum deployment" to attend to the people affected by the rains. From that moment, the Venezuelan President described the situation left by the rainfall as "difficult and painful."
Shortly after noon on Sunday, Rodriguez, who had traveled to the Santiago Mariño Municipality to assess the damage caused by the rains, confirmed that 22 citizens had died and 52 people were still missing.
“On instructions from Commander in Chief Nicolas Maduro, the Strategic Operational Command has deployed forces to guarantee the tasks of health provision, communication, and search and removal, at the site of the damage,” Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said.
Interior Minister Remigio Ceballos activated the "Emergency and Disaster Control and Coordination Center" to care for the affected families, emphasizing that three shelters and a collection center were set to guarantee food, medicine, supplies, and medical attention.
"The National Risk System is activated with 1,200 Firefighters, Civil Protection and Police officials, together with the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB)," he added