Only today the dimension of a mud avalanche became clear which ocurred already on Friday afternoon at Casitas volcano. The mud covered an area of about 20 km length and 2-3 km width, southwest of the volcano. Numerous villages, settlements and houses between Casitas volcano and the town of Posoltega were destroyed. Exact informations about population density in this area do not exist but it is assumed that more than 1000 people, maybe even 2000, could have died. Today, Nicaraguan Army and Red Cross reported having found 400 cadavers.
Rescue is very difficult because of the mud, and the rain continues.
The Nicaraguan Government declared Natural Disaster Emergency for the most affected regions of the country. The main tasks for the next days are the rescue of people who are still in danger, helicopter transports of food to the isolated places and the preliminary reparation of the communication lines. Due to this extreme disaster the the Nicaraguan economy has certainly suffered a sensitive drawback. Thus, the reparation of highways is now of extraordinary importance as the coffee harvest should begin in a few days. Messages posted directly by observers have not been edited or confirmed.