At least 17 people have died and 72 others are still missing after a landslide that buried a large part of a district in the southern Ecuadorian city of Alausi between Sunday night and Monday, authorities in the Andean country said Thursday.

A giant chunk of the mountain broke off overnight Sunday into Monday and hit the district on the outskirts of this city of 45,000 in Ciborasso province, about 300 kilometers south of the capital Quito.

The landslide also injured 37 residents, while 163 houses were hit, of which 57 were completely destroyed, according to the latest data from the national risk management secretariat (SNGR). In total, the affected are around 650.

The search and rescue operation continues at the disaster site, according to the government. However, rescue workers now considered the possibility of finding survivors to be zero, four days after the disaster.

The government opened three reception centers for those who were left homeless, and ordered the evacuation of 600 houses, even though they were not hit by the landslide. The sector has been on “yellow alert” since February due to the rains.

Because of the deadly earthquake that hit the country earlier this month and the rains, floods and landslides, the government last week declared a state of emergency in 14 of Ecuador’s 24 provinces so that resources needed to help be offered to those affected.

The storm surge destroyed or damaged roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

Even before Sunday’s landslide, rains and landslides had already killed 22 people and left 346 homeless across the country since the beginning of the year. More than 6,900 homes were damaged and 72 were completely destroyed, according to official figures.