Rescue workers in Colombia resumed the increasingly hopeless search for the missing Tuesday after a massive landslide, as the death toll rose to 64 and residents began a difficult clean-up.
After spending the night in shelters, residents of La Margarita, the hardest-hit town, returned to the ruins of their community to search for missing family members or shovel out the mud that filled their homes.
Rescuers meanwhile resumed the search for victims, which they had to call off overnight as the heavy rains that triggered the landslide continued pounding the area.
With the help of residents and specially trained dogs, they swept the area looking for more bodies buried in the mud and hoping to find some of the missing still alive.
But hope was growing slim as the death toll continued to rise.
The national disaster management agency said Tuesday that at least 64 people were killed, increasing its previous toll by two.
Forensics experts have identified 18 of the bodies, which will undergo autopsies in the city of Medellin, 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the northeast.
At least 40 people were injured in the landslide, which tore through the municipality of Salgar in the mountains of northwest Colombia after the Liboriana river burst its banks and sent a flood of mud rushing down a ravine.
"It's horrible. There are no words for it. It's like a dream, like coming in for a landing when you see the magnitude of the disaster," said Nora Quinceno, who was sleeping like most locals when the disaster struck around 3:00 am Monday.
- Gruesome search -
The survivors faced the gruesome task of searching for their missing neighbors, then pulling their dead bodies from the thick mud.
"Today's my 70th birthday. The saddest of my life," said Gildardo Parra, who was helping rescue workers find victims.
He had already helped pull nine bodies from the mud, including a child, he said. All of them were people he knew.
"That area over there by the school was full of little houses. All that disappeared," he told AFP.
Santa Margarita, which the local mayor said was practically "wiped off the map," is one of four towns that make up Salgar, a municipality of 17,000 people in the department of Antioquia.
More than 350 emergency workers have been dispatched to the area to assess the damage, set up shelters, distribute drinking water, treat the injured and provide psychological counseling.
"I had a daughter and granddaughter living there who were swept away. We're at a loss, we don't have anywhere to go," said Omar Londono, another survivor.
Housewife Socorro Rincon said she lost 15 relatives in the tragedy, nearly her entire family.
"We're searching for the remains of the rest. We've found eight so far," she said.
- Dwindling hope -
President Juan Manuel Santos, who visited the area Monday, promised residents: "We will not forget you."
He described the scene as something out of Dante.
Electricity and water service have still not been restored to the area, but dump trucks arrived to cart off loads of mud and debris.
Rescue workers met first thing Tuesday morning in a Salgar church to coordinate the complicated search for victims.
"The rain fell all night, the river's current swelled again and that is going to make recovering victims very difficult," said Alfredo Vergara, the chief of the Salgar fire department.
The hope of finding the missing alive is growing ever slimmer, he said.
"I think what we'll find now are bodies," he told AFP.
Officials are monitoring the river to warn residents if there is a risk of another landslide.
Those who lost their homes are being housed in three temporary shelters and on coffee plantations, the main industry in the area.
Colombia's tropical climate and mountainous landscapes make it prone to landslides.
Salgar's Municipal Development Plan for 2012 to 2015 had highlighted the risk of landslides in the area, local media reported Tuesday.
Rescue workers in Colombia resumed the increasingly hopeless search for the missing Tuesday after a massive landslide, as the death toll rose to 64 and residents began a difficult clean-up.
After spending the night in shelters, residents of La Margarita, the hardest-hit town, returned to the ruins of their community to search for missing family members or shovel out the mud that filled their homes.
Rescuers meanwhile resumed the search for victims, which they had to call off overnight as the heavy rains that triggered the landslide continued pounding the area.
With the help of residents and specially trained dogs, they swept the area looking for more bodies buried in the mud and hoping to find some of the missing still alive.
But hope was growing slim as the death toll continued to rise.
The national disaster management agency said Tuesday that at least 64 people were killed, increasing its previous toll by two.
Forensics experts have identified 18 of the bodies, which will undergo autopsies in the city of Medellin, 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the northeast.
At least 40 people were injured in the landslide, which tore through the municipality of Salgar in the mountains of northwest Colombia after the Liboriana river burst its banks and sent a flood of mud rushing down a ravine.
“It’s horrible. There are no words for it. It’s like a dream, like coming in for a landing when you see the magnitude of the disaster,” said Nora Quinceno, who was sleeping like most locals when the disaster struck around 3:00 am Monday.
– Gruesome search –
The survivors faced the gruesome task of searching for their missing neighbors, then pulling their dead bodies from the thick mud.
“Today’s my 70th birthday. The saddest of my life,” said Gildardo Parra, who was helping rescue workers find victims.
He had already helped pull nine bodies from the mud, including a child, he said. All of them were people he knew.
“That area over there by the school was full of little houses. All that disappeared,” he told AFP.
Santa Margarita, which the local mayor said was practically “wiped off the map,” is one of four towns that make up Salgar, a municipality of 17,000 people in the department of Antioquia.
More than 350 emergency workers have been dispatched to the area to assess the damage, set up shelters, distribute drinking water, treat the injured and provide psychological counseling.
“I had a daughter and granddaughter living there who were swept away. We’re at a loss, we don’t have anywhere to go,” said Omar Londono, another survivor.
Housewife Socorro Rincon said she lost 15 relatives in the tragedy, nearly her entire family.
“We’re searching for the remains of the rest. We’ve found eight so far,” she said.
– Dwindling hope –
President Juan Manuel Santos, who visited the area Monday, promised residents: “We will not forget you.”
He described the scene as something out of Dante.
Electricity and water service have still not been restored to the area, but dump trucks arrived to cart off loads of mud and debris.
Rescue workers met first thing Tuesday morning in a Salgar church to coordinate the complicated search for victims.
“The rain fell all night, the river’s current swelled again and that is going to make recovering victims very difficult,” said Alfredo Vergara, the chief of the Salgar fire department.
The hope of finding the missing alive is growing ever slimmer, he said.
“I think what we’ll find now are bodies,” he told AFP.
Officials are monitoring the river to warn residents if there is a risk of another landslide.
Those who lost their homes are being housed in three temporary shelters and on coffee plantations, the main industry in the area.
Colombia’s tropical climate and mountainous landscapes make it prone to landslides.
Salgar’s Municipal Development Plan for 2012 to 2015 had highlighted the risk of landslides in the area, local media reported Tuesday.
