✍Ecuador landslide, four months after: the shadow of tragedy still saddens Alausí

| The mudslide happened overnight, burying dozens of homes

By Natasha Tinsley

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On Sunday 26 March, tragedy struck the south Ecuador town of Alausí when a landslide left 65 people dead. Four months later, I visited the community to find out how it was coping.

“Why do you want to go there?”, locals asked in genuine confusion, “There’s nothing to see anymore”.

With around 6,000 inhabitants, Alausí is inevitably quieter than other Ecuadorian cities. But the plazas and surrounding villages are authentic and welcoming.

Daily life isn’t too different since the landslide. Each morning, a community band plays in the historical centre.

On Thursdays and Sundays, the streets fill with indigenous sellers from nearby villages who bring fruit and crafts. The towering statue of San Pedro, Alausí’s patron saint, is the one constant figure that can be seen from almost anywhere in the town.

Yet many locals describe Alausí as still grieving.

| The 21-metre statue of San Pedro seems to watch over Alausí below

“On the Monday after it happened nobody said ‘good morning’”, recalled María Valla Quinche, who sells handmade ponchos, accessories, and gifts for tourists. “We just hugged each other and cried”.

Peering out of her souvenir shop, I noticed every corner - every mural - radiated the historic red and green of Alausí’s flag.

10 people remain missing and the tragedy has left an indelible mark on the community. But it is still rooted in tradition.

Alausí is one of the safer towns in Ecuador, as the country has experienced a surge in violent crime since the pandemic. Locals in the town usually know and say hello to each other. Despite not having relatives there, Valla Quinche says her neighbours are like family.

“Everyone was desperate to find their loved ones”, she said, remembering people screaming and running. “Some of them had left their houses so quickly they didn’t even have time to put clothes on”.

| María Valla Quinche said the painful memories from the landslide will “always be there”

Others spent the night of the landslide pulling families out from under the rubble.

Víctor Rivadeneira, a farmer and owner of Alausí’s first backpacker hostel, spoke to me about being two metres deep in debris.

“The mountainside was still falling, but it was like fight or flight”, he said, stroking his pet parrot, Marco, for comfort. “I stayed there because I wanted to help my town”.

Raised by Ecuadorian parents in Connecticut, Rivadeneira’s late father was from Alausí. “When I was old enough, I spent a year travelling in Ecuador and realised Alausí was where I belonged”, he said.

Like most people in the town, he was outraged that warnings about the precarious state of hillside dwellings had not been acted upon.

Hands trembling, as if reliving the moment, Rivadeneira searched for a video he had taken of the affected area. Just four hours before the catastrophe, the footage showed large cracks in the tarmac of the Pan-American Highway - the main road to reach Alausí.

Despite cracks starting to appear in December 2022, Rivadeneira says there were no evacuation routes, warning signs, or mock drills in case of disaster.

“It’s devastating that my town had to go through this”, he said.

| Víctor Rivadeneira said he has a “desperate, lingering hope” that those missing will be found

Every June since colonial times, Alausí celebrates the Festival of San Pedro. With dancing, folklore, and bull running, it attracts both Ecuadorians and international tourists. This year, all activities were suspended out of respect for mourning families.

The decision was not popular with everyone in the town. With the main road closed for a month after the landslide, Alausí had largely been shut off from visitors. Many locals are now keen to reactivate the economy.

“Everyone mourns differently”, said restaurant owner Sara - not her real name. “I don’t believe in wearing black and not dancing for a whole year, but that’s the tradition of this town”.

| Business owners in Alausí are struggling to survive with less tourists

In 2019, Alausí was designated a ‘Pueblo Mágico’ (‘Magical Town’) by the country’s Ministry of Tourism - a title given to places rich in Ecuadorian culture and heritage.

At the time, it was estimated that Alausí welcomed 60,000 tourists each year. Home to the first stop on one of the world’s most challenging railway tracks, most were drawn to its promise of a thrilling adventure through the Andes.

Today, the town is another story. At the beginning of 2020, soon before the pandemic, a presidential decree ordered an indefinite suspension of its rail operations.

With Alausí’s main pride and source of income now at a standstill, tourists are a rare sight. Some locals fear it will become a ghost town.

| Deactivation of the Devil’s Nose train was a significant blow to the local economy

Despite never feeling as scared as she was on the night of the landslide, Sara is not the only one who hopes tourism will pick up again.

“Us alauseños are well known all over Ecuador”, says Rivadeneira, “So when our town suffers it’s impossible not to dwell on it”.

“But like San Pedro”, he says, pointing up at the robust statue, “We have to carry on”.