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Death toll from landslide in Colombia rises to 34
Updated 09:20, 06-Dec-2022
CGTN

Heavy rains in northwestern Colombia sent a wall of earth crashing onto a winding road, swallowing up a bus and other vehicles and killing 34 people, emergency services said Monday.

The landslide Sunday evening prompted a large rescue effort, with dozens of people in hard hats using backhoes and excavators to dig through the earth looking for victims.

The National Unit for Disaster Risk Management said the fatalities included eight minors and that nine other people were injured in the disaster in the remote town of Pueblo Rico.

The bus had set out from the city of Cali with 25 passengers, and traveled 270 kilometers before being hit by the landslide as it passed through the Andes mountain region, civil defense officials said.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro described the incident as a tragedy in a Twitter message.

"Solidarity with the families of the victims," Petro said, pledging support from the national government.

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