An avalanche fell on a hotel where a wedding was celebrated and caused a tragedy in Peru

The mudslide destroyed the walls of the hotel in Abancay / AFP

LIMA

At least 15 people died crushed after the fall of an avalanche of stones and mud in the early hours of the day yesterday on a hotel where a wedding took place in Abancay, in the southeast from Peru.

The wedding party was held in the most normal way. After midnight, the roof collapsed in front of the astonished eyes of the couple of husbands and their guests.

The music and the lights went out and the tragedy began: victims who asked for help to scream and relatives of the missing who called them in the middle of the night. The mudslide devastated the walls of the hotel, which housed a party with more than 100 guests dancing at the time of the disaster.

"There are 15 dead and 34 wounded," local radio Jorge Chávez, head of the Institute of Civil Defense (Indeci), told local radio. The official said the avalanche was caused by heavy rains that usually fall in the region at this time of year.

Images from Peruvian TV channels showed firefighters and police officers as they were rescuing the wounded amidst the collapsed roof built of reddish tiles, rammed earth and bamboo. Several of the deceased were wrapped by rescuers with pink fabrics that a few minutes ago had adorned the walls of the event.

Local authorities said firefighters, police and residents were still working to rescue people who were still trapped in the rubble.

"In the Alhambra hotel, where the wedding was celebrated, 13 people were found dead and two people died in the hospital," Chávez said.

According to witnesses, most of the participants at the ceremony were teachers from Aymaraes province. Married couples were identified as Benedicta Palomino and Vladimir Márquez Robles, who were not on the casualty list.

According to Indeci, the hotel's wall has collapsed due to the collapse of a dike adjacent to the building, built to prevent the fall of rocks or landslides in the area. The enclosure was built very close to a slope. Chávez explained that the collapse of this wall had dropped the ceiling, affecting guests to the party.

The Indeci, who took charge of the situation, asked relatives of affected people to go to the corresponding health centers to identify their relatives.

The government center for emergency operations reported that between January and March, the risk of floods and landslides was high in the Peruvian Andean regions.

In Peru, in the first few months of the year, avalanches of stones and mud were caused by incessant rains that damaged roads, devastated crops and caused floods, the agency said.

In the first quarter of 2018, floods and avalanches killed at least 30 people.

In March of last year, five family members died while they dined in an avalanche of stones and mud that fell on their house, located on a hillside in the northern region of La Libertad, announced the Indeci. (AFP and AP)