Bolivia: Heavy Rains Block Transportation

ANCHOR:
Transportation between Eastern and Western Bolivia is suspended due to damage caused by heavy rains. Hundreds of people have been left stranded for days.

STORY:
Heavy rains have been wreaking havoc in Bolivia. A major road connecting eastern and western Bolivia will remain blocked for at least another five days.

Hundreds of stranded passengers decided leave the area on foot, but many have nowhere to go.

Crews have been working to clear the highway and build walls to contain the disaster. But rain continues to unleash mounds of asphalt, increasing the affected area from 50 to 250 meters.

About one thousand vehicles have been stuck on the route, trapped by mud and large rocks.

[Jose Eizaguirre, Stranded Traveler]:
"We have been here all night, since seven in the evening when we left. We have to go to work somehow."

The eastern province of Santa Cruz is the economic and political heartland of the country, holding Bolivia's key agricultural and oil resources.

Approximately 600 of the vehicles are large transport trucks.

It will take at least a week to clear and repair the route sufficiently for larger vehicles to get out.

Some smaller vehicles have managed to move, but later encounter more blockages a few meters down the road.

Every years seasonal rains have caused road closures in Bolivia, but this year
Its even more severe.

[Julio Chuquimia, Stranded Traveler]:
"Everyone knows that every year this road is in ruins. So we are waiting for the rain. But what are we going to do afterwards, the season hasn´t really begun yet?"

One death has been confirmed of a man caught by a current in the Chapare River that runs alongside the highway.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• ntd
• Bolivia
• Heavy
• Rains
• Transportation
• road
• blockages
• closures