Santiago - The death toll in flooding in the northern Chilean desert has risen to 17, authorities said Monday after launching a vaccination campaign to prevent the spread of disease.
The toll in the affected area, which measures 700 kilometres long and 200 kilometres wide, might continue to rise, authorities warned.
“When you have 17 downpours at once and you have no land access to check everything, ... the chance for more people to be missing and dead increases by the day,” Deputy Interior Minister Mahmud Aleuy said.
According to official figures, 20 people remained missing Monday, 26 000 people have suffered damage to their property and 6,000 homes have been destroyed.
The rains of recent weeks are regarded as the heaviest in a century in the Chilean regions of Coquimbo, Atacama and Antofagasta, where entire villages were swamped by overflowing rivers.
The authorities have started to vaccinate locals to prevent the spread of tetanus and influenza.
President Michelle Bachelet has declared a state of emergency and dispatched the military to help with rescue work and prevent looting.
Local officials have also warned that faults in upstream dams could be releasing toxic material from desert mines, including arsenic, copper and mercury.
The Atacama desert region between the Andes mountains and the sea is considered to be one of the driest places on Earth. Rain is extremely unusual, and the area has only two to 10 cloudy days per year.
Sapa-dpa