More evacuated in Luján

The death of a teenager in Pilar, Buenos Aires province, was reported yesterday, taking the victims of the flood in the province to three, while in Luján, more people were evacuated after water levels rose.

Police sources confirmed that a 14-year-old died in Pilar on Monday from an electric shock when his trolley for carrying cardboard boxes touched an electric cable that had fallen in the Sunday storms. The deaths of another man in Isidro Casanova and a woman in Lanús had already been reported.

In Luján, the number of evacuated people rose from 350 to 550, according to Mayor Oscar Luciani, who stated that the water levels in the town, flooded since the River Luján burst its banks in the storm, had risen from 4.82 metres to 5.10.

The water levels left several neighbourhoods without power, while residents used boats to travel through the streets, where the water had reached car roofs.

The water also entered the crypt of the basilica of Luján, but not the church itself, and the rector of the national sanctuary, José Daniel Blanchoud, announced yesterday that “the suction pumps” had started functioning.

The Luján mayor stated that “this highwater in the River Luján is totally different” from previous years and blamed the situation on the lack of “cleaning” of the river, calling on the province government to perform a “deep dredging.” The last dredging was performed in 1980.

Herald with DyN