Quito - At least 38 people were killed and thousands evacuated as strong rains pounded Ecuador, flooding rivers and triggering landslides, authorities said yesterday.
Thirty motorists were killed when an avalanche of mud and rocks destroyed a shelter where they had stopped to rest on Monday night on their way to the town of Papallacta.
Another six people died in mudslides near Papallacta and two others were drowned in the Amazon region, as rivers swelled from four days of torrential rains.