Yungay

From Freepedia

Yungay is a town in the Ancash Region in north central Peru. It is the capital of the Yungay Province, as well as the main town in the Yungay District. Yungay has a population of 5,459 (1999 estimate).

A remarkable event of the history of Peru happened in Yungay, where the the Chilean invading troops defeated the army of the Peru-Bolivian Confederacy during the Battle of Yungay on January 20, 1839, marking the dissolution of the short-lived confederacy.

On May 31, 1970 a landslide caused by the 1970 Ancash earthquake buried the whole town, killing more than 17,000 persons. Only 400 people survived, most of whom were in the cemetery and stadium at the time of the earthquake, as these zones were the highest in town.

The Peruvian government has forbidden excavation in the area where the old town of Yungay is buried, declaring it a national cemetery.