The alert was issued at 10:35 local time (one hour ahead in Lisbon) by the regional civil protection regarding “a potential landslide with victims on-site,” according to Alexandre Gaudêncio, the mayor of Ribeira Grande. Municipal Civil Protection and firefighters from Ribeira Grande were immediately dispatched.
The incident resulted in five minor injuries, who were taken to the Ribeira Grande Health Center.
At the scene, three minor injuries were identified, three tourists walking the trail, who were struck by “a sizeable stone that slid along the trail,” said Alexandre Gaudêncio.
The mayor added that, on the same trail, according to the commander of the Ribeira Grande Volunteer Firefighters, “two more individuals were identified a bit further up and who, on their own, traveled in their vehicle to probably also be checked at the local health facility.”
“It is a situation of a landslide [that occurred] in the middle of a regional trail in our council, Salto do Cabrito, which is temporarily closed until new inspection by the technicians,” he said.
Alexandre Gaudêncio suggested that the landslide might have been caused by the intense rain that fell in the area during the early hours and morning.
The Ribeira Grande municipality alerted the entity managing the area, the Regional Government of the Azores, through the Regional Secretariat for Public Works, whose technicians “will visit the site in the coming hours.”
“Until then, as a precaution, the trail is temporarily closed,” he informed.
Present at the scene were means from the Ribeira Grande Volunteer Firefighters, the Ribeira Grande Municipal Civil Protection, and an Immediate Life Support (SIV) ambulance from the Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service.
