Uruguay storms kill seven, displace 2,000: authorities

[COLONIA SUIZA, URUGUAY] Storms and floods in Uruguay have killed seven people and driven 2,000 from their homes in recent days, authorities said Sunday.

Four people were killed when a storm struck the western city of Dolores on Friday and three others were later found to have died when trying to cross flooded rivers in the region, according to a new government toll released Sunday.

President Tabare Vazquez declared Sunday a day of national mourning.

"We are going to rebuild Dolores," he said, in comments broadcast on the radio.

Countless buildings were destroyed in Dolores, an AFP reporter in the town saw.

The National Emergency System said on Sunday that floods caused by heavy rain had forced more than 2,000 people to abandon their homes after rivers burst their banks.

Flooding also forced the closure of the main national highway that links the capital Montevideo to the tourist town of Sacramento de Colonia and to the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, an AFP reporter saw.

AFP