Giant waves kill at least one person in Ecuador, close ports in Peru

One person has died in Ecuador and ports across Peru were closed as huge waves of up to 13 feet hit the region, officials said Saturday.

Local authorities said that many beaches along the central and northern stretches of the Peruvian coast were closed to prevent risks to human life.

The waves flooded the piers and public squares, forcing residents to flee to higher areas, according to photos published by local media.

In neighboring Ecuador, the National Secretariat for Risk Management said a body had been recovered in the coastal city of Manta.

The Manta Fire Department announced that at six in the morning, the lifeless body of a missing person was found in the Barbasquillo sector.

The National Emergency Operations Center wrote on social media that Peru had closed 91 of its 121 ports as of January 1.

The municipality of Callao, which is close to the capital, Lima, and the location of the country’s main port, closed many beaches and prevented tourists and fishing boats from leaving.

“These waves are generated thousands of kilometers from Peru, off the coast of the United States,” Navy Captain Enrique Faria told NTV.

“They are waves generated by continuous winds on the ocean surface approaching our coasts,” he said.

Dozens of small fishing boats and businesses near the sea were damaged, according to images broadcast on television and social media.