Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Landslides Block Peru’s Central Highway at San Rafael, Stranding Hundreds

Authorities urge drivers to avoid the route due to saturated slopes raising the risk of new slides.

Overview

  • Multiple mudslides and rockfalls have shut the Central Highway at San Rafael in Huánuco, leaving buses, cars, and cargo stuck and hundreds of people stranded.
  • Cleanup crews brought heavy machinery, with a trailer bogged down in thick mud now slowing the opening of blocked stretches.
  • Local officials identified at least four critical points where falling rock and activated ravines are restricting passage and advised avoiding the Ambo–San RafaelHuariacaCerro de Pasco route.
  • Passengers report waits longer than eight hours with families running out of food as callers ask the Transport Ministry to send tractors and relief.
  • Saturated slopes from ongoing heavy rain raise the risk of fresh slides during clearing, with a reported power outage in San Rafael complicating emergency work during the busy Holy Week travel period.