100 Feared Dead In Venezuela Floods...12/17/99

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - With heavy rains in Venezuela showing no sign of subsiding, houses crashed down hillsides and frightened residents fled for their lives amid flooding and mudslides that are feared to have killed more than 100 people. An avalanche of mud and water, crashing down a mountain that separates Caracas from the Caribbean Sea, devastated Blandin, a hillside slum in the capital Thursday. "It was like the end of the world," said Adriana Avendano, a 30-year-old mother of three whose home was swept away in Blandin. With much of the country paralyzed by the torrential rains, at least 50 bodies had been recovered, and authorities said another 100 people were reported missing. More than 36,000 people were left homeless.

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