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At Least 4 Killed, 15 Missing in Chile Mudslides

Damage done by a landslide is seen in Villa Santa Lucia, Los Lagos, Chile December 16, 2017 in this still image obtained from social media. (Reuters)
Damage done by a landslide is seen in Villa Santa Lucia, Los Lagos, Chile December 16, 2017 in this still image obtained from social media. (Reuters)
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At Least 4 Killed, 15 Missing in Chile Mudslides

Damage done by a landslide is seen in Villa Santa Lucia, Los Lagos, Chile December 16, 2017 in this still image obtained from social media. (Reuters)
Damage done by a landslide is seen in Villa Santa Lucia, Los Lagos, Chile December 16, 2017 in this still image obtained from social media. (Reuters)

At least four people were killed on Saturday and over a dozen missing following mudslides that were triggered by heavy rain, officials said.

Rain caused a river to overflow and the side of a hill to collapse, burying 20 of the 200 houses in Villa Santa Lucia in the Los Lagos region, located 790 miles (1,272 kilometers) south of Chile's capital, Santiago.

A video taken from a helicopter by Chilean police showed a vast swath of the remote town buried beneath the mud as the landslide plowed its way down a flooded river valley.

Earlier Saturday, Deputy Secretary of the Interior Madmud Aleuy said there were three people dead, including an unidentified tourist.

Rescue workers were continuing to search through the debris for at least 15 people.

President Michelle Bachelet declared the region a catastrophe zone and confirmed the number of dead and missing.

“I have ordered rescue workers to put all the necessary resources toward protecting the people of Villa Santa Lucia,” she said on social media.

She met with her team of ministers to coordinate rescue and assistance efforts.

Some of the injured were taken by helicopter to medical centers.

Two families were evacuated because of a fire caused by the slide, authorities said. Water and electricity service to the area was knocked out.

The alert level in the area had been raised to red because of the persistent rains.

The mudslide also destroyed a school and several homes and roadways as well as a voting center ahead of Chile’s presidential election on Sunday.

More than 4.5 inches (11.4 cm) of rain fell in 24 hours, the country’s Interior Ministry said, but weather conditions were expected to improve later in the day.

Villa Santa Lucia borders Chile’s Corcovado National Park, a popular tourist region of volcanoes, fjords and vast forests.

The nearby Chaiten volcano erupted in 2008, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents.

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Taiwanese Rally For, Against the Recall of Opposition Lawmakers Seen as Close to China

A Taiwan flag can be seen at Liberty Square in Taipei, Taiwan, July 28, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
A Taiwan flag can be seen at Liberty Square in Taipei, Taiwan, July 28, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
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Taiwanese Rally For, Against the Recall of Opposition Lawmakers Seen as Close to China

A Taiwan flag can be seen at Liberty Square in Taipei, Taiwan, July 28, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
A Taiwan flag can be seen at Liberty Square in Taipei, Taiwan, July 28, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo

Threats from China and anger over legislative deadlock are dominating Taiwan's political discourse as residents rally for and against a campaign to recall two dozen opposition Nationalist Party lawmakers in polling to be held on Saturday.

Thousands of supporters of the independence-leaning ruling Democratic Progressive Party turned out in the heart of the capital Taipei on Thursday to hear from civil society activists, writers, musicians and others who support the recalls, which could potentially give the party, also known as the DPP, a majority in the legislature.

The DPP won last year’s presidential election, but came up short in the legislature, The AP news reported.

Since then, the China-friendly Nationalists, also known as the KMT, and their allies have sought to hobble the power of the executive and blocked key legislation, especially the defense budget.

That has been seen as undermining both Taiwan’s hard-won democracy and its ability to deter China’s threat to invade the island it considers its own territory. Those concerns prompted activists to campaign for recall votes in the districts where Nationalists were seen as most vulnerable, and they succeeded in 24 districts where votes are scheduled this weekend.

A recall measures must win 40% of the constituents in a district to succeed, after which a special election will be held to fill the seat, in which all parties can compete.

The KMT and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party together hold a majority in the parliament with 62 seats, while the ruling DPP holds 51 seats.

The KMT on Thursday sent some of its best known politicians, including the mayor of Taipei, the speaker of the legislature and the party chairman, out to urge voters to oppose the recall. It also planned a rally in Taipei on Friday. The KMT calls the measure a power grab by the DPP and a threat to multi-party democracy.

Perhaps more than any issue, China has loomed over the campaign, with both its officials and state media dismissing the recall effort as a further futile attempt to preclude what they call the inevitability of Beijing's annexation of Taiwan, either by military or peaceful means.

On Taiwan, it has brought out differences between Taiwanese who favor pursuing the current path and those who seek accommodation with Beijing. China-friendly politicians have been accused of selling out Taiwan for accepting trips to the mainland and meetings with Chinese politicians, while they defend themselves as keeping open lines of communication in light of Beijing's refusal to interact with the DPP.

The recall campaign — Taiwan's first — was prompted by anti-KMT groups alarmed by the party's closeness with China, corruption and the KMT's refusal to work with President Lai Ching-te's administration.

They first needed to gather signatures from 10% of voters in each district, targeting legislators seen as particularly vulnerable or controversial and under China's influence. Each campaign seeking to unseat a single legislator required a huge organizational effort, limiting the number of KMT lawmakers targeted.

The KMT is primed to contest any special elections that must be called within six months, raising the possibility that they could win back the seats, and the DPP, although enlivened by the campaign, could still remain in the minority.