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Death toll due to flooding in Chile rises to 17; 20 missing

By Danielle Haynes
The cities of Copiapo and Chañaral in Chile were two of the areas hardest hit by flood waters. Aerial photographs taken by the Chilean Air Force show water and mud covering the streets. Photo courtesy Fuerza Aérea de Chile, L17336, Art. 11 Secc. e.
1 of 4 | The cities of Copiapo and Chañaral in Chile were two of the areas hardest hit by flood waters. Aerial photographs taken by the Chilean Air Force show water and mud covering the streets. Photo courtesy Fuerza Aérea de Chile, L17336, Art. 11 Secc. e.

CAPIAPO, Chile, March 30 (UPI) -- The death toll caused by flash floods in northern Chile last week has risen to 17 and at least 20 people are still missing, government officials said.

Heavy rain, beginning Tuesday, in northern Chile's Andes Mountains sent water pouring into valleys below, flooding the Copiapo River's banks in the Atacama and Antofagasta regions.

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Chile's National Emergency Office Director Ricardo Toro told The Wall Street Journal some 26,000 people were affected by the flooding.

Seventy-two percent of residences in the Atacama region were without electricity and the area is under an overnight curfew. Multiple schools have also been closed. Meanwhile, in Antofagasta, some highways are closed due to mudslides.

In some areas, like the desert town of Chanaral, entire neighborhoods have been covered in mud.

Several mines are located in the hardest-hit areas, including the one where 33 miners were trapped underground for 69 days in 2010. Emergency workers this week rescued 13 miners who had been cut off from their village for five days in Tierra Amarilla.

"We as a country will have to put a lot of effort in to get out of this situation," said Interior Minister Rodrigo Penailillo.

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The 41,000 square mile desert is regarded as the world's driest non-polar desert, with an annual rainfall of only 0.6 inches per year.

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