At least 18 people lost their lives as a result of two landslides this Friday The incident took place on a highway near the town of Carmen de Atrato in Colombia’s Chocó (western) region, and approximately 30 people were injured, official sources reported.
“The 18 dead people have been identified,” Jaime Herrera, mayor of Carmen de Atrato, the municipality where the incident occurred, told Noticias Caracol. The landslide apparently destroyed many vehicles, which had previously been stopped due to an avalanche blocking the road. Between Medellín, the capital of Chocó, and Quibdó. In the video recorded by eyewitnesses of the tragedy, it is seen that a group of vehicles stopped on the road and waited for the pass to open, then the mountain suddenly collapsed, burying them and their passengers.
The mayor added death toll may increase Because aid teams continue to remove tons of soil that fell on the passengers. “Due to the avalanche that has killed 18 people so far tonight, there have been many injured and missing people,” he said.
The governor of Chocó, Nubia Carolina Córdoba, stated in his statement that “a serious emergency occurred on the road from Quibdó to Medellín in the sector known as El 17,” but did not give figures. The death toll despite mentioning their mission of “recovery of bodies and immediate care of the injured”.
“Faced with the sad situation in Chocó (…) we pray for the success of the rescue operations. I stand in solidarity with the victims and their families at this painful moment for our ministry and our country,” he said on his account. X (formerly Twitter), Luis Gilberto Murillo, Colombia’s ambassador to Washington, is a native of Chocó.
Earlier, Colombian vice president Francia Márquez said it “stranded dozens of people and vehicles in the area.” According to the vice president, preliminary reports indicate that “five people may have been killed and approximately 30 injured due to the avalanche.”
La Cruz Operations chief told Noticias Caracol: “We received information from the Emergency Regulation Center that in the Toldas area, about 50 people took shelter in a house due to the rain and the landslide occurred right above this house.” Dorado.