Tag: Quito

Ecuador capital flooding toll raised to 28

QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) – The heaviest flooding to hit Ecuador in two decades claimed 28 lives in the capital Quito this week and left 52 people injured, the city’s mayor said Sunday. The floods inundated homes, carried off cars and swept away volleyball players and spectators on a sports field. Rescuers are still searching for a missing 38-year-old woman who lived in the popular La Comuna neighborhood. Rain that drenched Quito for 17 straight hours […]

Amazon oil spill in Ecuador was 6,300 barrels

QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) – An oil spill caused by a ruptured pipeline in Ecuador’s Amazon region leaked almost 6,300 barrels into an environmental reserve, according to information provided Wednesday by the company that owns the conduit. The firm OCP said it had “collected and reinjected 5,300 barrels of crude into the system” since the accident on Friday when heavy rains caused a boulder to fall on the pipeline in a mountainous region. OCP said the […]

Flooding kills at least 11 people in Ecuador capital

QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) – At least 11 people were killed and 32 injured on Monday after the heaviest flooding to hit Ecuador in nearly two decades triggered a massive landslide in capital Quito, authorities said. Torrents of water carrying stones and mud swept down an avenue in the Ecuadorian city, washing away cars and flooding houses and streets, according to images released by the emergency services. The torrential downpour caused a water collection structure to […]

Relative of extinct tortoise located in Galapagos

QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) — A scientific expedition to the Galapagos Islands has discovered a tortoise with a “strong” genetic link to a presumed-extinct subspecies made famous by the popular Lonesome George, national park officials said Friday. George, the last known member of the Chelonoidis nigra abingdonii Pinta tortoise species, died in 2012 in captivity aged over 100 after refusing to provide any offspring. The Galapagos National Parks (PNG) said the expedition had discovered a young, […]

Ecuador says will let Sweden interview Assange in London

QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) — Ecuador said Wednesday it will let Swedish officials interview Julian Assange at its embassy in London, where the WikiLeaks founder has been sheltering since June 2012. In a statement, the foreign ministry said a letter has been sent by the Ecuadoran government to set up a meeting with Swedish officials at Quito’s embassy in London. The meeting is to take place “in the coming weeks,” the statement said. Prosecutors in Sweden want […]

Ecuador struck by 6.7 magnitude quake: USGS

QUITO , Ecuador (AFP) — A strong earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Moment magnitude scale struck Ecuador early Wednesday, one month after a devastating 7.8 magnitude quake that killed some 660 people, the US Geological Survey said. Ecuador’s national geological institute, which measured the quake at 6.8, said it struck at 2:57 am local time (0757 GMT) in the South American country’s western Manabi region. US geologists said there was no tsunami threat from the quake. […]

Colombia sends search and rescue workers and aid for quake

BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) – Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos bid farewell on Sunday (April 17) to 65 search and rescue experts heading to Ecuador where Saturday’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake left at least 246 dead and has caused aftershocks so strong that one caused the evacuation of a hospital in neighbouring Colombia. The 7.8 magnitude quake struck off the Pacific coast on Saturday and was felt around the Andean nation of 16 million people, causing panic as […]

Scuffles in Ecuador as pro-Kurdish protesters turn out against Erdogan

Violent scenes in Ecuador’s capital of Quito on Thursday (February 04) as Kurdish supporters turned out to protest Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who is in the South American country on an official visit. The protest started out peacefully outside the country’s National Higher Studies Institute before Erdogan was due to arrive. Security was high with police and soldiers trying to keep back protesters. Scuffles later erupted when some protesters found their way into the […]

CELAC assembles its countries to deal with Zika virus

The Latin American and Caribbean States Community (CELAC) has decided to assemble all health departments of its member countries to deal with the outbreak of the Zika virus, which has been linked with birth defects and the paralysis-causing Guillain-Barre syndrome across many Latin American countries. The President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos made the above remarks at a press conference at the CELAC summit in the Ecuadorian capital Quito on Wednesday. Santos said CELAC countries […]

Fourth CELAC summit held in Quito, Ecuador

The fourth summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) was held Wednesday in Quito, capital of Ecuador. Leaders of the CELAC’s 33 member countries gathered at the headquarters of the Union of South American Nations to discuss plans for the region’s development over the next five years. Discussions were made on reducing poverty and inequality across the region during the one-day meeting. Other topics included education, innovation of science and technology, […]