At Least 210 Die as Landslide Engulfs Bolivian Mining Camp

At least 210 people died in a landslide that buried a gold-mining camp in northern Bolivia, and hundreds more are missing and feared dead, rescue officials said Wednesday.

Ten others were killed when their vehicle, loaded with food for survivors, overturned, Bolivian Radio said.

Heavy rains thwarted efforts to cross the Andes along narrow and winding roads from La Paz, 125 miles to the south.

Two air force helicopters dropped emergency supplies but could not land because of rough terrain and rain.

Tuesday’s landslide struck when the Llipi Limitada camp was asleep.

“Llipi has practically disappeared,” Gen. Dardo Gomez, commander of Bolivia’s air force, said after a visit to the camp Wednesday. At least 1,500 people had lived in and around the camp.

Police and rescue workers recovered 210 bodies from the site in the Tipuani valley after removing tons of rock and sludge Wednesday.

They said the death toll could more than double as their work continues.

“We know of hundreds missing. . . . They could even reach 300,” one official told reporters.

Hillman Espinoza, a mining leader at Llipi, said by short-wave radio that earth-moving equipment was stalled because of lack of fuel and bodies were decomposing in the heat.

President Jaime Paz Zamora declared the site a “national disaster” area and said it was the worst mining disaster in Bolivian history.

Paz pleaded for help from foreign countries, and the United States offered food, blood, medical supplies, cots, tents and rescue experts.

The Tipuani valley is one of Bolivia’s main gold mining regions and produces 3.5 tons of gold a year.