Torrential downpours have triggered deadly mudslides and widespread flooding in southern Peru, leaving at least seventeen people dead - including fifteen killed in a military helicopter crash - as hundreds of districts across the country remain under a state of emergency.
Peru’s Council of Ministers said on Monday that more than 700 districts nationwide are now under emergency status, as authorities struggle to respond to the escalating crisis.
Peruvian authorities recovered the bodies of a father and son who were killed in a mudslide caused by heavy rains battering the southern regions of Ica and Arequipa. The floods have affected an estimated 5,500 homes so far, forcing many residents to evacuate.
In Cayma, in the Arequipa region, a vehicle was left partially buried in mud, while several homes teetered on the brink of collapse after flash floods swept away soil and destroyed roadways, local media reported.
Authorities in Arequipa have urged the country’s interim president to declare a state of emergency specifically for the region. The regional governor said multiple shelters had been opened to accommodate residents fleeing the floods.
Meteorologists said the El Niño Costero (coastal) phenomenon has brought weeks of heavy rainfall to Peru and is expected to intensify slightly next month, raising the threat of further severe flooding.
While El Niño is a natural climate cycle, scientists increasingly link the growing severity of such events to climate change. Rising global temperatures create warmer ocean baselines and increase the atmosphere’s capacity to hold moisture, fuelling more extreme rainfall.
In a separate tragedy, fifteen people - including seven children - died when a Peruvian Air Force (FAP) Mi-17 helicopter crashed in southern Peru, authorities confirmed on Monday.
The aircraft was located in the Chala district of Caravelí province after an intensive search operation, having lost radio contact on Sunday afternoon.
According to an official statement, the helicopter had been carrying out search and rescue operations and delivering assistance to communities affected by flooding and landslides in the Arequipa region.
On board were four crew members, an FAP colonel, three civilian women and seven minors aged between three and 17.
Authorities have confirmed that an investigation into the cause of the crash is underway.
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