A fatal landslide in Colombia has buried a bus under two meters of earth and has caused the death of a large part of its passengers. In total, the emergency teams have recovered the bodies of 34 fatalities and have rescued 9 more people alive.
"We have already identified 33 dead people," Colombian government spokesman Alfonso Prada reported at a press conference, a figure that the Colombian National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) increased shortly after by one more fatality for a total of 34. Among them were eight minors, according to the same UNGRD, which has also been able to rescue some of the minors trapped by the accident alive.
In addition, Prada himself has indicated that they have rescued "nine people, four of them are in critical condition, being treated." For his part, the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, has conveyed his "solidarity with the families of the victims" and has assured that the families "will have comprehensive support from the National Government."
The landslide occurred this Sunday, when part of the mountain fell away, taking with it a piece of the road that connects the departments of Risaralda and Chocó, in the La Cabaña sector, a rural area of the municipality of Pueblo Rico, to the west from the country.
When it broke loose, it buried an intermunicipal transport bus that had left Cali bound for the municipalities of Condoto and Quibdó, in the department of Chocó.
The director of the UNGRD, Javier Pava, went to the place this Monday together with the governor of Risaralda, Víctor Manuel Tamayo, to deal with the tragedy.
The landslide has been caused, according to the UNGRD, due to the La Niña phenomenon, which has occurred in Colombia since August 2020 with an increase in rain and cold in certain latitudes, and which "has generated hypersaturation in materials with a high degree of of metamorphism, also associated with steep slopes, which have triggered superficial mass movements", that is, due to the rains that hit the country and have been wreaking havoc for weeks.
