Peru Declares State of Emergency as Temperatures Drop, 250,000 Alpacas Perish

The Government of Peru has declared a state of emergency in parts of the southern Andean region of Puno after temperatures have plummeted to the coldest they have been in a decade. President Ollanta Humala announced emergency states in seven separate Puno provinces: Carabay, Sandia, Lampa, San Antonio de Putina, Melgar, Puno and El Collao. 

Not only have hundreds of families been affected, but more than 250,000 alpacas have died due to the freezing temperatures. 

Passengers on inter-provincial buses were forced to wait  eight to ten hours on icy highway coping with temperatures of minus 15 degrees Celsius.