Mudslide Kills 64 in Slums of Chilean City

A mudslide slammed into hillside slums of this northern desert city early Tuesday, sweeping away scores of shacks and killing at least 64 people, officials said. Another 48 were missing and feared dead.

About 750 people were injured in the disaster, triggered by five hours of rare torrential rains in this port in the Atacama desert region, considered one of the most arid areas in the world.

Interior Minister Enrique Krauss, speaking in the capital of Santiago before flying here, said the death toll would almost certainly climb sharply.

Rescue crews searched though scores of wooden shacks swept away by the avalanche on the northern edge of the city of 200,000, about 900 miles north of Santiago. Police said at least 1,000 people were left homeless in 10 slum neighborhoods.

The mudslide cut the Pan American Highway, which runs along the coast of this South American nation.

Local officials said the avalanche was swollen by the water of four large storage tanks that were swept away. Water and power supplies were cut off in several neighborhoods, and roads to the city were blocked.

The mud spread to other parts of the city, including the downtown area, where vehicles were seen stuck in the streets in up to two feet of mud.

The government’s National Emergency Office reported that shelters for the homeless were being set up in schools and other government buildings. Authorities suspended classes.

The National Emergency Office dispatched a C-130 Hercules plane to Antofagasta carrying food, medicine, clothes and blankets.

The rare storms were reported in several other Atacama desert towns. Calama, in a mining region 135 miles east of Antofagasta, was hit by strong winds, rain and snow.

To the south, snowstorms in the Andes shut down traffic along the main highway between Santiago and the Argentine city of Mendoza.