Rescuers find more victims after a landslide in Ecuador, rising the death toll to 8

RIO VERDE, Ecuador (AP) — Rescue teams and some inhabitants searched the mud Monday looking for more victims of a landslide in central Ecuador that killed at least eight people.

Heavy rains over the weekend drenched several provinces of Ecuador, but the community of Baños was one of the most affected when a hill partially collapsed Sunday and swept over some houses and vehicles.

Ecuador's Risk Management office said in a press release that besides the eight confirmed deaths, 11 others were missing and 22 more were injured.

Baños, which is about 135 kilometers (84 miles) south of the capital, Quito, is known among tourists as a jumping-off point for adventures in the Amazon jungle.

“Pain, sadness, resignation for the family,” one resident, Edgar Paredes, said in describing the loss of his son in the landslide.

Search teams and some inhabitants removed debris by hand, though heavy machinery was also put to use.

The initial death toll Sunday was six, but authorities reported Monday two more bodies had been removed.

As the searchers worked in the mud, some residents sought to recover furniture from damaged houses.

Across Ecuador, storms caused other landslides and flooding in at least 13 provinces, destroying some bridges and highways, severing the main road connecting Ecuador’s highlands to its Amazonian provinces.

Two other people died in two different provinces because of the rains, the Risk Management officed said.

Residents and rescue workers wade along a road covered in mud after intense rain triggered a landslide in Banos, Ecuador, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

Coffins are prepared for the bodies of victims of a landslide caused by heavy rains in El Placer, Ecuador, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

People rescue their belongings from their house destroyed by a landslide in El Placer, Ecuador, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

A resident, kneeling, reacts after landslides damaged his house in El Placer, Ecuador, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

The bodies of people who died in a landslide wait to be transferred to the morgue in El Placer, Ecuador, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

A resident, second from right, reacts after landslides damaged his house in El Placer, Ecuador, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

People rescue belongings from their house damaged by a landslide set by heavy rains in El Placer, Ecuador, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

Residents sit in their houses along a road flooded by a landslide caused by heavy rains in Banos, Ecuador, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

Residents carry coffins of those who died in landslides in El Placer, Ecuador, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

Residents traverse terrain that experienced landslides in Banos, Ecuador, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

Bodies of those who died in landslides lie in bags in El Placer, Ecuador, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

Banos firefighters rescue the body of a person who died in a landslide in El Placer Ecuador, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

A tractor removes the debris caused by a landslide in El Placer, Ecuador, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

CAIRO (AP) — Human rights experts working for the United Nations on Wednesday accused Sudan’s warring parties of using starvation as a war weapon, amid mounting warnings about imminent famine in the African nation.

Sudan plunged into chaos in April last year when simmering tensions between the country’s military and a notorious paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum and elsewhere in the country.

Fourteen months of fighting have killed more than 14,000 people and wounded 33,000 others, according to the United Nations, but rights activists say the toll could be much higher.

There were widespread reports of rampant sexual violence and other atrocities that rights groups say amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The conflict created the world’s largest displacement crisis with over 11 million people forced to flee their homes.

“Both the SAF and the RSF are using food as a weapon and starving civilians,” the experts said, using initials for the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. “The extent of hunger and displacement we see in Sudan today is unprecedented and never witnessed before,” they said.

Neither the military nor the RSF returned phone calls seeking comment.

The experts warned that famine has become imminent in the country as humanitarian aid has been blocked and harvest season was disrupted because of the war. They added that more than 25 million civilians in Sudan and those who fled the country are being starved and need urgent humanitarian assistance.

A report by Clingendael Institute said last month that around 2.5 million people in Sudan could die from hunger by the end of September, with about 15% of the population in the regions of Darfur and Kordofan being likely the worst affected.

The independent experts said local efforts in response to Sudan's hunger crisis have been hampered by unprecedented violence and targeted attacks on civil society and local responders. Dozens of activists and local volunteers have been arrested, threatened and prosecuted in recent weeks, they said.

“The deliberate targeting of humanitarian workers and local volunteers has undermined aid operations, putting millions of people at further risk of starvation,” they said. “Local responders are risking their health and lives and working across battle lines.”

They urged both sides to “stop blocking, looting and exploiting humanitarian assistance.”

The experts are part of the Special Procedures, which is the largest body of independent experts in the United Nations Human Rights system.

The fighting has in recent months centered around el-Fasher, the capital city of North Darfur province, trapping hundreds of thousands of civilians. At least 143,000 people have been forced to flee el-Fasher over the past three months, according to the U.N.

The U.N.’s Security Council earlier this month demanded the RSF to immediately end its siege of the city, which is the military’s last stronghold in the sprawling Darfur region.

Follow AP’s Africa coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

FILE - Sudanese Children suffering from malnutrition are treated at an MSF clinic in Metche Camp, Chad, near the Sudanese border, on April 6, 2024. Human rights experts working for the United Nations, Wednesday June 26, 2024 accused Sudan’s warring parties of using starvation as a war weapon, amid mounting warnings about imminent famine in the African nation. Sudan plunged into chaos in April last year when simmering tensions between the country’s military and a notorious paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum and elsewhere in the country. (AP Photo/Patricia Simon, File)

FILE - Sudanese soldiers from the Rapid Support Forces unit, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy head of the military council, secure the area where Dagalo attends a military-backed tribe's rally, in the East Nile province, Sudan, on June 22, 2019. Human rights experts working for the United Nations on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 accused Sudan’s warring parties of using starvation as a war weapon, amid mounting warnings about imminent famine in the African nation. Sudan plunged into chaos in April last year when simmering tensions between the country’s military and a notorious paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum and elsewhere in the country. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)