Heavy rains and mudslides near Peru's Machu Picchu Inca ruins killed 6 people and stranded 1,500 tourists yesterday.
Unusually intense rains that began on Friday morning caused one river to flood its banks. The ensuing mudslides washed away houses in Machu Picchu Pueblo, the starting point for the 500,000 tourists who visit the Inca citadel every year and home to about 4,000 people.
One mudslide covered the train tracks in the Andean highland town and cut off transport links to the regional capital, Cusco.
"Six bodies have been found on the river bed. They are all locals from this district," town hall official Hector Olivera said.
Authorities said they were continuing to search for missing people.
"One of the mudslides took six houses with it and damaged another 20," said Carlos Cuaresma, president of the Cusco region. He said at least 11 people were missing, including an entire family, and around 70 were homeless.
Train company Peru Rail said 1,500 tourists were stranded in the town.
"One of the mudslides fell on the train line and we have suspended our services until we clean the tracks. ... We are evaluating how we can evacuate the tourists," said Peru Rail spokeswoman Joanna Boyen.
President Alejandro Toledo, in the region to help film a television travel program, visited the town and offered his presidential helicopters to evacuate the tourists.
Planners have warned that Machu Picchu Pueblo, which has mushroomed in the past 10 years on the back of the tourist boom, is precariously built and not equipped to deal with large numbers of tourists.
Up to 2,000 people visit the Machu Picchu citadel every day and visitor numbers are growing at 6 percent a year.
Machu Picchu - the ruins of an entire city, including temples - was probably the sanctuary of the great Inca emperor Pachacutec at the heart of the Inca empire and is perched on a mountain saddle at 8,400 feet above sea level.