At least nine people died and another 20 were injured by a landslide caused by the rains that affect the Colombian city of Pereira, capital of the department of Risaralda (center), official sources reported Tuesday.
(Read: Measures that the Government plans to implement to face inflation).
“At this time we have the report of six people dead and the authorities are looking for survivors in the rubble.“, Pereira’s Secretary of Government, Álvaro Arias, told reporters.
The official explained that the emergency occurred in the early hours of this January 8 due to the downpour that caused a slip that affected several homes in the La Esneda neighborhood.
Arias added that firefighters, police and relief agencies are sweeping the area, one of the most depressed in Pereira, to establish for sure how many people died, the total number of injured and how many Homes were damaged or destroyed.
Locals told local media that at least 20 injured people were taken to city hospitals. They also reported that several houses were buried because a slope broke off and that the Otún River, which crosses Pereira, overflowed.
(Read: Solidarity Income Transfers will rise 60% for needy families).
The emergency was initially attended by firefighters from Dosquebradas, a town near Pereira. Then the Red Cross and the Risaralda Risk Management Directorate, among others, joined.
Videos circulate on social networks in which it is seen that the inhabitants work with their hands and manage to get out residents who were trapped in their houses by the mud.
(What’s more: Current restrictions for Colombian travelers in the world).
The governor of Risaralda, Víctor Manuel Tamayo, went to the site of the landslide to speak with the victims, who they are afraid to return to their homes because the rains do not stop and they asked the Government to help them with food, cleaning supplies, mattresses and clothing because they lost everything in the tragedy.
EFE
