Peru president vows faster aid after deadly landslide

At least 12 people have been killed in a massive landslide that struck southern Peru, with dozens of homes swallowed up by dirt and mud following heavy rainfall.

Another 20 people were injured after the landslide struck on Sunday near the riverside town of Secocha, about 200 kilometres northwest of the city of Arequipia. 

Another two people are missing, officials said.

At least 10 homes were destroyed, according to national emergency services, although that number appeared likely to grow significantly, with 310 homes reported damaged so far.

Video of the landslide captured one sloping town street transformed into a running river of mud, rocks and debris, with homes and other structures torn down. 

Locals could be heard shouting at those in its path to run.

Aerial footage from above Secocha by local outlet Radio Victoria showed large parts of nearby hillsides scrubbed of any vegetation, with huge piles of earth at the bottom where houses once stood.

William Alvarado, a district mayor in one of the hardest-hit areas, said more than 1000 families had been affected, almost all of them severely.

“We can say that the houses of 90 per cent of the affected families were completely destroyed,” he said.

President Dina Boluarte flew over the disaster zone on Tuesday morning to survey the damage.

At an afternoon news conference in Arequipa, she offered her condolences to the victims, ticked off early government efforts to help and noted past landslide clean-up efforts have too often suffered major delays.

“We will now show a big difference on that so that in the shortest amount of time we can recover as fast as possible,” she said.

Along with local officials, Boluarte posed for pictures in front of piles of supplies set for distribution.

The deadly landslide follows two months of intense political upheaval in the country marked by often violent anti-government protests aimed at Boluarte’s caretaker government.

The unrest is largely centred in nearby areas in Peru’s Andean south and was triggered by the early December ouster of former President Pedro Castillo.