MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

One dead, at least 3 injured in Bariloche hotel mudslide

There are also two Uruguayan tourists missing.

An avalanche of mud has left at least one person dead and three others injured Monday at the Villa Huinid Hotel on Bustillo Avenue, approximately three kilometers from downtown Bariloche, the famous Argentine mountain resort in the province of Río Negro.

Heavy rains caused a containment near the site to give way and hit parts of the complex, which has two buildings and dozens of cabins and apartments.

“There was an avalanche, a landslide that entered through the back of the hotel that is closer to Bustillo Avenue. Part of the landslide entered through the second floor towards the first floor,” said Police Unit 27 Chief Marcelo Guastavino.

Hotel sources corroborated the initial reports that one man of legal age had died in the incident.

Two other people were reported missing. Prosecutor Betiana Cendón said the group was part of a family that had arrived Monday morning at the hotel - a married couple related to the 42-year-old man who died, who was identified as Victor Jesus Gonzalez Giovanelli from Piriapolis, Uruguay.

A tourist from Chaco was rushed to the San Carlos Sanatorium, while two others were being treated at the Ramón Carrillo Hospital.

As per a preliminary assessment, the large amount of water that fell in the lower parts of the city in the last hours caused one of the containments to give way. It was between the hotel called Pioneros, in the southern part of the complex, and Bustillo, which is to the north.

The mud entered the second floor of the hotel, whose guests left the rooms as best they could. Around 8 pm, tourists in bathrobes and many others with bags could be seen in the hotel lobby. The stairway area was closed with perimeter tape and mountains of mud could be seen on the steps. Firefighters were working outside.

“We don't know what happened. But people started coming down scared. Apparently, there were quite a few people injured,” a witness was quoted as saying.