LA PAZ, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The death toll due to intense rains in Bolivia since November last year has risen to 28, said Juan Carlos Calvimontes, vice civil defense minister, on Friday.
The rains have affected eight of the country's nine departments. "We are talking about 83 municipalities affected and I am sure that within a week many of them will declare themselves in disaster," the official told a press conference.
So far, 27 municipalities have declared themselves in a state of emergency, of which 22 belong to La Paz, the department hardest hit by the climate.
The deaths were caused by floods in the departments of Chuquisaca (south), La Paz (west), Tarija (south), Cochabamba (center), Santa Cruz (east) and Potosi (southwest), according to the government.
In addition, four people remain missing, three of them in the north of La Paz and one in the department of Chuquisaca.
The National Meteorology and Hydrology Service predicted that the rains will persist in the coming weeks, with the possibility of extending until March and April.
