[Anchor]
Chile is on high alert due to one of the strongest El Niño phenomena in history. Sudden torrential rains poured into the capital city of Santiago, causing a river to overflow and flood downtown. Nearly 1,000 people were narrowly rescued amid a fierce current strong enough to sweep away moving buses.
Here is a report from Jang Hun-gyeong.
[Reporter]
Las Condes, on the outskirts of the Chilean capital of Santiago.
Yellow muddy water swallows the road, and vehicles driving on it begin to get swept away by the rapid currents in various places.
A panicked driver hastily puts the car in reverse.
[Driver: Reverse, reverse.]
Passengers scream, trapped and unable to move as the current violently wraps around the bus.
People are clinging precariously to the roof of another drifting bus.
Over the past few days, rainfall reaching nine times the October average poured down, causing the Mapocho River that crosses Santiago to overflow and inundate the downtown area.
So far, at least six people have been injured, and more than 1,000 people have reportedly been rescued.
[Karina Carmi / Family member of a rescued person: My child called me and said, "Mom, I'm in the car and the mud has risen up to my waist. I think I'm going to die."]
However, with many people still isolated inside buildings or vehicles, the exact casualties have not yet been tallied.
[Klaus / University student: The university is still full of students who don't know what to do. It is really difficult for them to leave in this situation.]
This flood was caused by continuous heavy rainfall driven by the El Niño phenomenon, where the eastern Pacific sea temperatures abnormally rise. With this year's El Niño being the strongest since 1950 and expected to peak in December, further damage is feared.
While a state of emergency has been declared in the Las Condes area, the highest alerts and school closure orders have also been issued for 10 other regions at risk of landslides.
(Video Editing: Lee So-young)
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