Mudslide in Colombia leaves 52 dead after heavy rains generate river of earth and debris
Former president Alvaro Uribe, who spent part of his childhood in Salgar, rushed to the town to assist in relief efforts.
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 19 May, 2015, 8:28pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 19 May, 2015, 10:06pm
Associated Press in Salgar
Inhabitants and rescue workers search through collapsed homes for survivors and dead bodies following the landslide at 3am in Salgar, 100km from Medellin. Photo: EPA
An avalanche of m&d and debris roared over an alpine town in western Colombia, killing at least 52 in a flash flood and mudslide triggered by heavy rains.
Residents were stirred from bed before dawn on Monday by a loud rumble and neighbours' shouts of "The river! The river!" as modestly built homes and bridges plunged into the Libordiana ravine. Survivors barely had enough time to gather their loved ones.
"It was rocks and tree trunks everywhere," Diego Agudelo said, adding that never in 34 years living there had he suspected such a tragedy was possible.
"The river took out everything in its path," he said, including the back section of his home.
The disaster hit around 3am local time in Salgar, about 100km southwest of Medellin.
Dozens of rescuers supported by Black Hawk helicopters evacuated residents near the ravine for fear of another mudslide. A red fire truck could be seen hauling away several bodies, their bare feet dangling from the trunk.
President Juan Manuel Santos, who travelled to the town to oversee relief efforts, said several children lost their parents and the bodies of those killed needed to be transported to Medellin to be identified. As giant diggers were removing debris he vowed to rebuild the lost homes and provide shelter and assistance for the estimated 500 people affected by the calamity.
"Nobody can bring back the dead ... but we have to handle this disaster as best we can to move forward," Santos said.
Authorities said 52 people were confirmed dead but that the number could rise. Dozens have suffered light injuries, and an unknown number of people are still unaccounted for.
Colombia's rugged topography, in a seismically active area at the northern edge of the Andes, combined with shoddy construction practices, has made the country disaster-prone.
More than 150 disasters have struck the country over the past 40 years, claiming more than 32,000 lives and affecting more than 12 million people, according to the Inter-American Development Bank.
The tragedy in Salgar appeared to be the single deadliest event since a 1999 earthquake in the city of Armenia that left hundreds dead. A wave of flooding during the 2011 rainy season left more than 100 dead.
Luz Maria Urrego, 74, said she escaped certain death because she had travelled to Medellin for the long holiday weekend.
She said her brother was killed along with all his children and grandchildren.
"I said to my wife 'let's hold each and hope that God saves us,"' said Jorge Quintero, a local resident, describing to RCN TV how he was trapped between two raging currents that had taken with it two homes on either side of his own. "I know God gave us his hand because here we are, alive, still frightened, but alive."
The flooding destroyed the town's aqueduct and even areas in less hazardous zones experienced flooding. As a cautionary measure, electricity and other public services were suspended after several utility poles were knocked down.
The town of 18,000 lies amid one of Colombia's major coffee-growing regions. Former President Alvaro Uribe, who spent part of his childhood in Salgar, where his mother was born, rushed to the town to assist in relief efforts.
"It's very painful what we've seen," he said, describing meeting a grandmother caring for her three-day-old grandson, whose parents were missing.
