Deadliest Roads | Bolivia: Comes the Flood | Free Documentary

[Music] they are the gatherers of misfortune in the humid undergrowth of the bolivian jungle the family harvests the rotten shells from giant almond trees the place is infested with insects and snakes and janko the eldest of the siblings no longer wants to plunge in his hands i picked up the shells with this stick it's to protect me from scorpions spiders often you can mistake snakes for the shells wife claudia has never been bitten and harvests with bare hands but her great fear is tarantulas they can sting and sometimes it can be deadly for hours the whole family works to the point of collapse collecting the shells under the giant almond trees [Music] [Music] this year there were three deaths in our area [Music] the shells are too heavy to be carried they must be opened to extract the nuts containing the almonds that are exported worldwide but cutting the shells requires great dexterity and the blade of the machete is sharp and dangerous i've cut myself my finger was too close to the blade i'm here because i have no choice and i don't like the forest everything is rotten here everything is tiring this forest is horrible i have no fond memories of this place at the end of the day they're filled two bags with almonds they're much too heavy that's impossible to carry it weighs 80 kilos [Music] here though nature often provides the solution in a few moments the bark of a tree becomes a solid harness the tropical rain threatens to erase all traces of the trail the family decides to leave the deep forest as soon as they can legend has it that those who get lost in the jungle of night will lose their souls and wild beasts will devour their bodies on the way home the young couple who've known each other since childhood already knows the bag of almonds will not provide enough money for the whole family and it's no longer possible to collect any more because the torrential rains will turn the forest into a quagmire for weeks [Applause] [Music] since the death of his parents janko aged 26 is the head of the family and has 15 mouths to feed junko therefore gave up his medical studies and claudia her dreams djanko's younger brother romma aged 18 will go to the university in his place but there's just been some bad news we're having the money to pay for his university enrollment we must send it now because he can't miss this opportunity is making our lives difficult looking for a solution janko tries to negotiate his crop with a village cooperative for more than the usual price so how much money do you want then give me 58 euros nope you'll get 42 and that's it 42 euros or 25 cents a kilo a miserable price that won't be enough to pay for rahma's university [Music] the ever lower rates mean bolivian harvesters remain poor [Music] the precious almonds begin a perilous journey through the bolivian amazon to the capital a cargo that is transported in appalling conditions don't lean out [Music] the road is impractical it's horrible factories that make huge profits from the toil of thousands it hurts the hands the arms thousands of tons of almonds that sell abroad for a hundred times the price given to the carvisters and in bolivia there's another treasure plundered in the forest wood makes me sad to see so much wood cut down it's a massacre that disrupts the ecosystem causing unprecedented disruptions to the climate it's really bad it keeps rising and rising there's a consignment of almonds that might rot due to the moisture to avoid losses edgar must deliver them as quickly as possible to a processing plant but he's just found out his tank is empty and has to buy fuel from a colleague yesterday some villagers stole my gasoline [Music] despite his troubles edgar is happy because for once he won't make the trip alone thank you my friend thank you [Music] a taxi has just dropped off his son whom he hasn't seen in months [Music] how are you what [Music] to young alan his father's blue truck is a fabulous toy [Music] i'm really glad this is the first time i'm traveling with him the last time he was a baby he was only five months old [Music] according to your will the name of the father the son and the holy ghost edgar was divorced a year ago he lives alone and this trip during the school holidays is the only opportunity to see his son alan he was always asking me dad take me i want to go with you i was very moved and i missed him so i'm taking with him now [Applause] [Music] in three days time it's back to school for alan 1 370 kilometers away if he's late edgar's afraid his ex-wife will no longer allow him to see his son but it's the rainy season and the track through the forest has already flooded slowing the traffic at the bottom of this descent a truck is stuck [Applause] the sweltering heat the animals are suffocating and to overcome fatigue the drivers chewing coca leaves we're very upset we're stuck here we need to get the pigs to the village quickly look there's one who's already died on the way i don't want any more to die the driver keeps trying only to get bogged down even more [Music] that truck down there will fall over [Music] and of course it works [Music] for alan his father is a superman my dad came here and he was able to pull out the truck [Music] [Music] looking at his son edgar remembers the dreams that made him choose this job ever since i was little i always wanted to be a driver [Music] i had tiny toys i made them out of odds and edgar is not the owner of his truck and once he's paid off the hire the fuel and the food this trip will make him barely enough to live on don't lean out [Music] liabilities that were incurred as a result of an accident in bolivia there's no insurance and drivers are responsible for their cargo and have to pay for it if it's damaged my truck slid over onto its side and tipped over and then it started to rain edgar must avoid another accident at all costs but it's not so easy on this road full of obstacles there's a big hole and everybody falls in they're trying to fill it in because too many cars have got stuck the truck is blocked left to his own devices alan decides to walk through the ditches on the side of the road and he also soon gets bogged down in the sticky mud [Music] [Music] but alan seems to slow down on purpose don't hold on like that yes no you'll fall i won't exhausted edgar hopes his son will have a better future than his own i hope his dream comes true it's my dream too [Music] there's another test that now awaits edgar he must cross a tributary of the amazon the rio benny this year exceptional rains have caused massive flooding and edgar [Music] [Applause] i'll see if there's another way out the dock has disappeared under the water there are no boats to cross the river the weight is interminable and there's not much in the way of food this used to be my restaurant where i was serving fried fish corn peanuts [Applause] now all there is is mud not from the river and nothing else edgar won't find anywhere to rest either i can't find the words to express how i feel i get a lump in the throat just thinking that we'll have to take everything off it's each man for himself and even the tarantula doesn't know what to do with flooding comes disease diarrhea malaria vomiting typho dengue not to mention snake bites [Applause] [Music] a ferry struggling against the current finally arrives [Music] [Music] edgar is one of the first to board but there's not enough room for everyone there's room for two trucks really but they're trying to get three on they're trying to fit it in the bus is too long so the sailors let the rear wheels rest on the fragile and rusty ramp [Music] the usual practice is to try and get on as many customers as possible ignoring safety [Music] crammed together the passengers suffocate in the heat [Music] there's no air conditioning so it's down to basics [Music] with an ancient engine and a very strong current maneuvering is tricky it's rained a lot in peru and that affects the rivers in bolivia the river is swollen and that's dangerous from ferry to ferry edgar stutters along and on the last which is almost a wreck a cable snaps [Music] [Applause] i don't know what's happening it might be a mechanical problem [Music] the boat is out of control the ferry is no longer being pulled and it begins to drift [Music] it's dangerously close to the banks of the river [Music] the steering cable is finally repaired and at the last moment the pilot manages to safely guide the ferry across [Applause] after three days and 445 kilometers edgar completes the first stage of his journey at riveralta [Music] it's mostly a waste of time really and also of money because every day we take all the expenses will come out of my pocket it's a real loss of income isolated and near the brazilian border the small town of riberalta grew as a result of the rubber gold and timber industries today 100 000 people live in these muddy streets and depend on their livelihood on 10 almond processing plants millions of the precious nuts arrive every day at this warehouse because of the damp many rot even before they're opened [Music] to be dried they have to be ventilated but since there is no breeze the employees are constantly moving the mountains of the almonds around [Applause] and as soon as it's completed the operation is immediately repeated at the other end of the workhouse [Music] we're sick we have headaches and that's due to the heat we can't breathe here [Applause] [Music] in this polluted atmosphere bacteria often contaminate the almonds maya the director of the factory tries to deal with this on a shoestring we're entering a white area we have to use uniforms with aprons and headwear now now i'm ready to go into the workplace and inside one thousand workers mostly women are manually dissecting the almonds [Applause] [Music] in here 50 000 to 70 000 kilos of almonds a day are shelled by hand we weigh what they've shelled and they're paid by the kilo they get about 38 39 cents a kilo and according to what they produce they can earn between 300 and 740 euros a month in fact several members of the same family are taking it in turns on a single machine and the real wages per person are less than 300 euros a month that's the case of tita 18 who's worked here for two years i'm in my final year at school and i would like to go on to medical school i help my grandmother she's paid 210 euros a month and all that she gives me 52. 52 euros are barely enough to buy clothes not not to mention all the rest i work here from six in the morning until noon and then from two in the afternoon till six when i go to school the employees repeat the same gestures all year round the almond is hard it hurts your hands almonds the workers never rest and quickly develop serious illnesses it hurts your back and your arms everything hurts the almonds will continue their journey to the shelves of the world's finest delicatessens where they will be sold for 25 euros a kilo almost 100 times the workers salary for his part edgar has just learned that the road to la paz is flooded and impossible he doesn't know how he'll get alan back in time for the new school year the unseasonable rains continue and the rio benny has now flooded millions of hectares the main road to the capital is submerged the country is split into two [Music] [Applause] the current has swept away the road for dozens of kilometers travelers are trapped on islands with no way off you can't go it's impossible it's been a week that we've been stuck here and we've got nothing to eat and my cargo is rotting away [Music] the driver's wives cook for everyone drinking water for cooking no not drinking water we collect rainwater from the tents we've been here four days and it's taken a month to get here from river altar yes because of all the holes in the road with no outside help some attempt the impossible to find a way out [Applause] [Music] we're using stones to fill the holes and get through [Applause] we have to dig by hand it's the only way we have to do this is gonna help us [Applause] there's no money to pay for fuel nevertheless the villagers try their utmost to make it work i've got to get to a meeting in cruciarito and behind others tried to return home to save at least some business [Music] careful not to fall [Music] there's a hole it's deep we were meant to leave two weeks ago nobody here can say i'm dry there's nothing left nothing to eat everything has been swept away here take the stick [Music] thousands of victims take refuge above water level here two families live either side of a canvas [Music] in these conditions food is a problem and most resort to eating the local wildlife [Music] the animals take refuge in the hills so we go hunting and it provides enough food for several days on the road some intrepid drivers try forcing their way through before their cargo rots but after 200 meters damn it's deep it's deep a few kilometers further on the bridge on the main road has collapsed the force of the waters make matters worse and a flimsy bridge is all that connects the two banks ramiro who's transporting timber inspects the damage at the foot of the bridge the army is trying to create a way through [Music] i've been waiting two days we're trying to deal with the deepest part so we can get past the passengers on this bus however are less hopeful we're unloading the goods that were meant for rural banking why because it'll never get through here this will take a while it's too much water [Music] in order to transfer their goods they risk the small bridge [Music] so [Music] for ramiro taking the truck any further becomes very uncertain [Music] the hardest part is waiting you lose patience waiting that long you begin to complain but hey my truck is my hotel i have my bed i have stuff to eat got my clothes i just need the water levels to drop and then we can cross the river but it may take some time and if it rains we can do nothing about it [Music] and the downpour continues throughout the whole region cities are flooded and within days bolivia has more than one hundred thousand victims at rura nabake the rio beni continues to swell and submerges the entire city [Music] it's really bad it keeps rising and rising the locals are poorly equipped to defend themselves against the flood [Music] i praise the bottom of the door [Music] excuse me [Music] [Music] the sewers are overflowing everywhere the only way to reach the road to the capital is to cross the rio benny in a canoe [Music] for la paz let's go we're leaving [Music] get across just for a few cents but it takes courage and recklessness to cross a river in full flood [Music] when the waves are like this the tip of the boat has to go straight into them otherwise we could cap size and if the engine stops and that's why we have life jackets the crossing takes only seven minutes but it's seven minutes of panic at any moment a tree trunk may come along and seal everyone's fate [Music] so [Music] [Music] at the foot of the bridge each load of dirt is immediately swept away by the current there's about a meter of water it's dangerous because the current is so strong [Music] [Applause] [Music] and while some still hope to get across romero has his doubts i think the water's still way too high [Music] four hours later the army bulldozer helps a bus carrying soldiers to cross the river [Music] [Music] what they see as special treatment angers those who've been waiting for days let us across let us cross let the bus go we want to cross i'm trying everything to help it's okay they just want to cross first we've been here for two weeks more than two weeks we've been on the road for three weeks we want to get over and get to la paz a second bus with more military also crosses [Music] we truckers those passengers get priority no one cares about those of us with goods to transport according to the authorities it doesn't matter if we stay here for days or weeks fed up of waiting romero risks everything including being swept away by the current my truck weighs 55 tons come on i'm going to make it [Music] with a 55 ton truck if you get stuck he'll never get out [Music] we got through romero must now get across a mountain area eroded by deforestation [Music] [Applause] [Applause] but all the illegal timber traffic has devastated the tortuous road that's been waterlogged for weeks [Music] i've never transported illegal timber it's too risky if the forest rangers or police get you they can confiscate the truck and i'm sad that cutting so many trees has destroyed the forest [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] this road is in very poor condition there are a lot of landslides and one must be really careful because if you're not you can tip over the rain doesn't stop and bolivia slowly sinks into a major natural disaster there seemed to be landslides everywhere in rurenabake a dozen people have been buried alive [Music] down here [Music] the hill did like this i shouted don't go up there the hill is sliding down but they didn't listen and they ran up to over there and there was a second landslide and they were buried and also four soldiers who had come to rescue people [Music] [Music] ramiro's route is turning into a journey into hell marked by the memory of the flood victims 38 in all in bolivia [Music] they're turning trucks up there must be a landslide we got stuck you'll never know when you'll get to your destination no no forward go forward within weeks four years of work and millions of dollars to rebuild this road are reduced to nothing [Music] i'm sorry to come and work in these conditions anxious to get home to la paz romero perseveres exceeding the limits and taking risks which in the past cost him dearly [Music] my worst memory no it's when i was a young driver i was carrying beer as a cargo beer is not stable it sways in every direction and i almost turned over i had to unload all the beer to get the truck out i lost money because almost the entire cargo was damaged the beer had turned into mud [Music] yet another problem this is the worst i'm completely stuck the delay seems endless until out of the fog a bulldozer gives some hope [Music] if you go too quickly it's not good and too slow it's not good either the trick is to find the right speed the more the heavy goods vehicles force their way through the deeper the ruts and on the edge of the road vehicles with lower chassis are good and stuck [Applause] [Music] i'm with my children we have no more food we'll [Music] to make any progress the central bank has to be overcome meter by meter by hand [Applause] [Music] and once you've launched yourself there's no chance to break [Music] romero is making slow progress towards la paz but now it's a whole hill that swept down over the road it's incredible the entire hills collapsed everything there's no way through that they have to fix this first that's going to be a lot of work excuse me do you know how long it will take no a landslide has swept away the road 100 meters below and this road had just been built stones and compacted gravel nothing more when it's finished the road will soon be ruined again maintenance teams are overwhelmed and are trying to open a temporary track well the problem is that at any moment it will collapse especially if the rains continue [Applause] as you can see the rain the water is still rushing through here [Applause] but will people get through yes but at their own peril it's very dangerous look it's still sliding down it'll take us three or four days to make the road safe but the travelers have no choice but to brave the danger [Applause] [Music] these leaves are covered with ants be careful [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] and try to get la paz is still 200 kilometers away stuck on the other side the truckers are fed up and now want to try their luck gentlemen i ask you to turn back towards a safer place if it rains tonight this entire section will collapse but if you want to try it go for it it's dry here the road is dry it's good here the ground's hard no it's not hard yes we can cross here look the next time it rains this will crumble away that is why we must remove all of this first come on mr engineer you have to understand our situation but my understanding won't make miracles you think i can just click my fingers and it'll be okay i wonder when i'll get home in this weather you never know when you'll finally arrived [Music] ramiro will have to wait it out another four days before being able to continue [Music] [Music] 3 800 meters above sea level la paz the capital of the andes barely emerges from under the deluge young allen made it back to class but was one week later with edgar his father they were flown home by an air bridge set up by the government fortunately we came back on a plane because there are people who drove and they still haven't made it with his truck stuck in the amazon edgar has no vehicle and has to earn his living doing odd jobs [Music] how am i going to feed my family [Music] after two days of rest and anxious to support his family romero is already preparing to leave again [Music] you have to leave again tomorrow but it's still raining so much and what state are the roads i guess they're open now i heard on the news that they've collapsed and the roads are bad i'm worried you know yes but the truck is loaded and i have to leave tomorrow [Music] holy virgin i pray to you again today i ask for the rain to stop so he can drive and that i can worry less than i do now so protect him so he will return home without problems we're waiting for him he has to travel [Music] so [Music] you

Channel: Free Documentary

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Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, most dangerous roads, most dangerous journeys, worlds most dangerous roads, worlds most dangerous journeys, deadliest roads, deadliest roads in the world, dicing with death, deadliest journeys, deadliest journeys bolivia, dicing with death bolivia, dangerous bolivia, most dangerous roads bolivia, dangerous roads bolivia, deadliest roads bolivia

Id: qcb6gpqLTF0

Length: 53min 5sec (3185 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 15 2021