Heavy rains in northwestern Colombia caused an earthen wall on a winding highway to collapse, engulfing a bus and other vehicles, killing 34 people, emergency services said on Thursday.
The landslide on the evening of December 4 sparked an immediate large-scale rescue effort, with dozens of men in hard hats using diggers and digging to find victims. Ground glue machine is used.
The National Disaster Risk Management Unit said eight young people were among those killed and nine others injured in a landslide in the city of Pueblo Rico.
Civil defense officials said the bus had departed Cali with 25 passengers and had traveled 170 miles (270 km) when it encountered a landslide while crossing the Andes. Colombian media reported that a child was alive. It is said that the child was taken from the mother who is no longer alive.
One survivor said the bus driver initially managed to avoid the worst of the landslide.
“The part of the landslide is falling, the bus backs up a bit. The bus driver was backing up when the entire floor collapsed,” Andres Ibarguan told Lloro Stereo radio.
According to a government statement, the rainy season that began in August was the worst in Colombia in 40 years and more than 270 people were killed in accidents during the rainy season.
Colombia has declared a state of national disaster due to heavy rains related to the unusual weather phenomenon La Niña. The La Niña weather phenomenon is a weather phenomenon that lowers surface temperatures and is currently causing droughts and floods around the world.
A landslide that brings pain to this city today and tomorrow could cause pain elsewhere, as there are many areas, said Javier Paver of the National Disaster Risk Management Unit. vulnerable areas in the country and the rainy season never ends. Last week, the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization said La Niña’s conditions could last until February or March 2023.
In Colombia, La Niña caused crop damage and increased food prices.
