*Ecuador, Esmeraldas oil spill leaves at least 200,000 people without drinking water and heavy rainfall increases the risk of disease
*Bolivia, more than 300 thousand families affected by heavy rains
*South Korea, death toll of wildfires rises to 28 as firefighters struggle to contain flames
*Bolivia, more than 300 thousand families affected by heavy rains
*South Korea, death toll of wildfires rises to 28 as firefighters struggle to contain flames
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NewsTranscript
00:00In Ecuador, at least 200,000 people were left without drinking water and lost their fishing
00:19source after the March 13th incident in the province of Esmeraldas, considered the worst
00:24oil spill in the history of the country.
00:26The environmental situation has been aggravated by the collapse due to the rains of a contention
00:31dam on Tuesday, which the state-owned company PetroEcuador reported helped contain the more
00:36than 25,000 barrels of oil spilled after the disaster.
00:40In this regard, PetroEcuador informed that seven containment barriers were installed
00:44in the Vicia River to tackle the dam collapse, where machinery was removing oil-contaminated
00:49debris.
00:50In addition, the company reported that extra absorbent material was being placed in Vicia
00:54as well as in the Caple and Esmeraldas rivers.
01:05In Ecuador, health authorities warned that heavy rains have increased the risk of diseases,
01:09among them acute gastrointestinal and respiratory ailments.
01:13In addition, the meteorological conditions have elevated the rates of infections and
01:17diseases caused by insect bites.
01:19In this regard, it was reported that the provinces of Napo, Guayas, Manabe and Orellana faced
01:24more than 10,000 reported cases of dengue, as Manabe and Guayas have the most incidents
01:29of infection of pulmonary mycosis, affecting older adults, according to official statistics.
01:42Meanwhile, in Bolivia, more than 368,000 families have been affected and 99 municipalities are
01:48in a state of disaster due to the emergency the country is going through with heavy rains.
01:53According to official reports, 818 affected families have lost their homes due to rains,
01:58floods, landslides and overflowing rivers.
02:01The forecast of the Meteorological and Hydrological Service activated the red alert for almost
02:04the entire country until April 5, 2025, due to the risk of floods and overflowing rivers.
02:10The declaration of a national state of emergency by the government makes it possible to speed
02:14up the response to disasters, to manage external financial resources, to draw up the post-flood
02:19plan and to mobilize more technical, logistical and economic resources in the affected areas.
02:32And work continues to contain wildfires raging in South Korea that have left at least 28
02:37dead, 32 injured and thousands evacuated in a week.
02:40The fires have been catalogued as the worst in the country's history and, as I mentioned,
02:44the government declared a state of national disaster.
02:46The flames have devastated more than 36,000 hectares and several helicopters are still
02:51dropping water on the areas due to the strong winds and dry weather that spread the fire.
02:55In addition, authorities have evacuated 37,185 people some 190 km southeast of Seoul, while
03:03another 16,700 are in temporary shelters.
03:06In this context, scientists alert that global warming is making this weather phenomenon more
03:10extreme every year.