14 killed, 35 injured in Colombian landslide

The Colombian National Disaster Agency has reported that 14 people have been killed and 35 injured, after a landslide buried several homes in the central city of Dosquebredas in the South American country.

According to the Agency, the landslide which occured in the early hours of Wednesday, followed torrential rain in the surrounding coffee-growing province of Risalda.

“Our updated report indicates that 35 people were injured, 14 lost their lives and one remains missing,” the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management said on Twitter.

Local authorities say they had already evacuated dozens of nearby homes amid fears of more landslides as the Otun River overflowed.

READ ALSO: Floods, landslides hit South Korea, dozens dead, thousands diaplaced

“We are currently managing the entire evacuation perimeter because we still detect soil instability,” Alvaro Arias, government secretary in Risaralda, said.

Due to Colombia’s mountainous terrain, frequent heavy rains, and poor or informal house construction,
landslides are common and the country’s most recent large landslide disaster was in the city of Mocoa in 2017, when more than 320 people were killed, according to a report by the United Nations in 2021.

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