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Updated: Apr 02, 2017 01:13 IST

A landslide in Colombia’s southwestern border province of Putumayo sent mud and debris crashing onto houses overnight, killing 154 people, Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos said on Saturday

Heavy rains caused several rivers to overflow, pushing sediment onto buildings and roads in the provincial capital of Mocoa.

“At this time we have removed 93 bodies. We have adults, women and infants,” police commander Colonel Omar Bonilla told radio station Caracol.

The disaster response unit has so far only given a toll of 24 deaths, with 120 people injured.

“We have sent a team of 150 people to make our response effective and machinery began work immediately,” Carlos Ivan Marquez, head of the unit, said in a statement. “We will be with the governor and the mayor giving all necessary attention.”

Photos posted on Twitter by the air force showed neighborhood streets filled with mud and damaged houses while cell phone videos on social media showed residents searching for survivors in the debris.

“It’s a big area,” Mocoa Mayor Jose Antonio Castro told Caracol on Saturday. “A big portion of the many houses were just taken by the avalanche but above all the people were warned with enough time and they were able to get out but houses in 17 neighbourhoods have basically been erased.”

Two bridges also were destroyed, Castro said.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is on his way to the area, the government said. Santos said on Twitter that he was praying for the victims.

Heavy rains and a mountainous landscape regularly cause landslides in the Andean country.

First Published: Apr 01, 2017 21:56 IST</s>MOCOA, Colombia (Reuters) - Flooding and mudslides in the Colombian city of Mocoa sent torrents of water and debris crashing onto houses in the early hours of Saturday morning, killing 254 people, injuring hundreds and sending terrified residents, some in their pajamas, scrambling to evacuate.

A man looks at a destroyed area after heavy rains caused several rivers to overflow, pushing sediment and rocks into buildings and roads in Mocoa, Colombia April 1, 2017. REUTERS/Jaime Saldarriaga

Heavy rains caused several rivers to overflow, pushing sediment and rocks onto buildings and roads in the capital of southwestern Putumayo province and immobilizing cars in several feet of mud.

“It was torrential rainstorm, it got really strong between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m.,” said local resident Mario Usale, 42, who was looking for his father-in-law in the debris.

“My mother-in-law was also missing, but we found her alive two kilometers away. She has head injuries, but she was conscious.”

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos flew to Mocoa, population 345,000, to oversee rescue efforts on the city outskirts and speak with affected families.

“We will do everything possible to help them,” Santos said after confirming the death toll. “It breaks my heart.”

The army said in a statement that 254 people were killed, 400 people had been injured and 200 were missing. More than 1,100 soldiers and police officers were called in to help dig people out in 17 affected neighborhoods.

Santos gave a lower death toll of 193 via Twitter.

Even in a country where heavy rains, a mountainous landscape and informal construction of homes combine to make mud and landslides a common occurrence, the scale of the Mocoa disaster was daunting compared to recent tragedies, like a 2015 landslide that killed nearly 80 people in Salgar, Antioquia. Colombia’s deadliest landslide, the 1985 Armero disaster, left more than 20,000 dead.

“It’s a big area,” Mocoa Mayor Jose Antonio Castro, who lost his house, told Caracol radio on Saturday. “A big portion of the many houses were just taken by the avalanche.”

He said that people were warned ahead of time and many were able to get out, but several neighborhoods and two bridges had been destroyed.

Weather authorities said light rains were expected in the area on Saturday night and Sunday.

Photos posted on Twitter by the air force showed neighborhood streets filled with mud and damaged houses, while videos on social media showed residents searching for survivors in the debris and struggling to move through waist-high water during the night.</s>Latest on the landslide in Colombia

04:10 (GMT+4) A landslide in Colombia's southwestern border province of Putumayo sent mud and debris crashing onto houses overnight, killing at least 250 people and injuring scores, officials said on Saturday.

Heavy rains caused several rivers to overflow, pushing sediment and rocks onto buildings and roads in the provincial capital of Mocoa and immobilizing cars in several feet of mud.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos flew to Mocoa, population 345,000, to oversee rescue efforts on the city outskirts and speak with affected families.

"We will do everything possible to help them," Santos said after confirming the death toll. "It breaks my heart."

22:32 (GMT+4) A landslide in Colombia's southwestern border province of Putumayo sent mud and debris crashing onto houses overnight, killing 93 people and injuring at least 120, Reuters reported.

Heavy rains caused several rivers to overflow, pushing sediment onto buildings and roads in the provincial capital of Mocoa.

"At this time we have removed 93 bodies. We have adults, women and infants," police commander Colonel Omar Bonilla told radio station Caracol.

The disaster response unit has so far only given a toll of 24 deaths, with 120 people injured.

"We have sent a team of 150 people to make our response effective and machinery began work immediately," Carlos Ivan Marquez, head of the unit, said in a statement. "We will be with the governor and the mayor giving all necessary attention."

Photos posted on Twitter by the air force showed neighborhood streets filled with mud and damaged houses while cell phone videos on social media showed residents searching for survivors in the debris.

"It's a big area," Mocoa Mayor Jose Antonio Castro told Caracol on Saturday. "A big portion of the many houses were just taken by the avalanche but above all the people were warned with enough time and they were able to get out but houses in 17 neighborhoods have basically been erased."

Two bridges also were destroyed, Castro said.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is on his way to the area, the government said. Santos said on Twitter that he was praying for the victims.

Heavy rains and a mountainous landscape regularly cause landslides in the Andean country.</s>A landslide in Colombia's southwestern border province of Putumayo that sent mud and debris crashing onto houses overnight. (AFP)

BOGOTA (Reuters) - A landslide in Colombia's southwestern border province of Putumayo sent mud and debris crashing onto houses overnight, killing at least 154 people and injuring scores, officials said on Saturday.

Heavy rains caused several rivers to overflow, pushing sediment and rocks onto buildings and roads in the provincial capital of Mocoa and immobilizing cars in several feet of mud.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos flew to Mocoa, population 345,000, to oversee rescue efforts on the city outskirts and speak with affected families.

"We will do everything possible to help them," Santos said after confirming the death toll. "It breaks my heart."

Officials were working to determine the number of missing, Santos said. Nearly 200 people were injured, the defense ministry said, and more than 1,100 soldiers and police officers were called in to dig people out.

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"We have sent a team of 150 people to make our response effective and machinery began work immediately," Carlos Ivan Marquez, head of the national disaster unit, said in a statement.

Even in a country where heavy rains, a mountainous landscape and informal construction of homes combine to make landslides a common occurrence, the scale of the Mocoa disaster was daunting. By comparison, a 2015 landslide killed nearly 80 people in Salgar, Antioquia.

"It's a big area," Mocoa Mayor Jose Antonio Castro, who lost his house, told Caracol radio on Saturday. "A big portion of the many houses were just taken by the avalanche."

He said that people were warned ahead of time and many were able to get out, but several neighborhoods and two bridges had been destroyed.

Photos posted on Twitter by the air force showed neighborhood streets filled with mud and damaged houses, while videos on social media showed residents searching for survivors in the debris and struggling to move through waist-high water during the night.</s>A landslide in Colombia’s southwestern border province of Putumayo sent mud and debris crashing onto houses overnight, killing 112 people and injuring at least 120, officials said on Saturday.

Heavy rains caused several rivers to overflow, pushing sediment onto buildings and roads in the provincial capital of Mocoa. “It has just been reported to me that we have 112 people dead,” President Juan Manuel Santos said after arriving in Mocoa and declaring a state of emergency. “We will keep looking.”

Local police said earlier on Saturday that 93 bodies had been recovered. The disaster response unit said 120 people were injured. (Reuters)

See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Tumblr.</s>Torrential overnight rainfall causing a landslide in Mocoa, Colombia claims the lives of more than 250 people. Flooding and mudslides sent debris and fast flowing water into houses as residents of Putumayo province’s capital city slept. An army statement reported that a further 400 people had been injured and 200 were missing</s>A landslide in Colombia's southwestern border province of Putumayo sent mud and debris crashing onto houses, killing at least 112 people and injuring hundreds more, officials said on Saturday.

Heavy rains caused several rivers to overflow, pushing sediment onto buildings and roads in the provincial capital of Mocoa.

Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos confirmed at least 112 people had been killed after intense rains triggered an avalanche of mud and water from overflowing rivers that swept through a small city.</s>MOCOA, Colombia -- A grim search for the missing resumed at dawn Sunday in southern Colombia after surging rivers sent an avalanche of floodwaters, mud and debris through a city, killing at least 200 people and leaving many more injured and homeless.

People in Mocoa pried through piles of rocks and wooden planks that entombed homes. Streets were covered in thick sand, mud and tree limbs from the rivers and rainforest that surround the city. There was little drinking water and no power, which forced authorities to suspend the search and rescue effort during the night.

The National Disaster Agency said Sunday that the death toll was at 200, with another 200 injured, but authorities conceded it could easily go higher because many people were still unaccounted for and dozens were airlifted to hospitals in other cities in critical condition, mostly children. Bodies were being placed in a temporary morgue where three teams of medical examiners were working around the clock to swiftly identify the remains.

In addition, Gov. Sorrel Aroca of Putumayo Department, which includes Mocoa, said there are also people reported missing in surrounding communities.

Authorities and residents in the city tucked between mountains along Colombia's southern border spent Saturday tending to victims, trying to find homes on streets reduced to masses of rubble and engaged in a desperate search to locate loved ones who disappeared in the dark of night. Authorities expect the death toll to rise.

Eduardo Vargas, 29, was asleep with his wife and 7-month-old baby when he was awoken by the sound of neighbours banging on his door. He quickly grabbed his family and fled up a small mountain amid the cries of people in panic.

"There was no time for anything," he said.

Vargas and his family huddled with about two dozen other residents as rocks, trees and wooden planks ripped through their neighbourhood below. They waited there until daylight, when members of the military helped them down.

When he reached the site of his home Saturday, nothing his family left behind remained.

"Thank God we have our lives," he said.

President Juan Manuel Santos travelled to Mocoa and declared the city a disaster zone Saturday. The Air Force transported 19 patients to a city farther north and said 20 more would be evacuated soon. Medicine and surgical supplies were being sent to the city as the area's regional hospital struggled to cope with the magnitude of the crisis.

Herman Granados, an anesthesiologist, said he worked throughout the night on victims. He said the hospital didn't have a blood bank large enough to deal with the number of patients and was quickly running out of its supply.

Some of the hospital workers came to help even though their own relatives remained missing.

"Under the mud," Granados said, "I am sure there are many more."

Santos blamed climate change for triggering the avalanche, saying that the accumulated rainfall in one night was almost half the amount Mocoa normally receives in the entire month of March. With the rainy season in much of Colombia just beginning, he said local and national authorities need to redouble their efforts to prevent a similar tragedy.

The crisis is likely to be remembered as one of the worst natural disasters in recent Colombian history, though the Andean nation has experienced even more destructive environmental catastrophes. Nearly 25,000 people were killed in 1985 after the Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted and triggered a deluge of mud and debris that buried the town of Armero.

The tragedy drew international attention, with even Pope Francis mentioning the catastrophe during his Angelus blessing Sunday on a visit to the northern Italian region of Emilia Romagna, which was struck by a pair of deadly earthquakes five years ago.

As rescuers in Mocoa shifted through debris, many residents were conducting their own searches for lost loved ones.

Oscar Londono tried in vain throughout the night to reach his wife's parents, whose home is right along one of the flooded rivers. He decided it was too dangerous to try to reach them in the dark. So he called over and over by phone but got no answer.

Once the sun began to rise he started walking toward their house but found all the streets he usually takes missing. As he tried to orient himself he came across the body of a young woman dressed in a mini-skirt and black blouse.

He checked her pulse but could not find one.

"There were bodies all over," he said.

When he finally reached the neighbourhood where his in-laws live he found "just mud and rocks." Rescue workers with the military oriented him toward the mountain, where he found his relatives camped with other survivors.

"To know they were alive," he said, "it was a reunion of tears."

Associated Press writers Christine Armario and Cesar Garcia in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report.</s>The bodies of more than 250 people have been pulled out of mud and rubble in Colombia after deadly landslides struck the southern American country. As rescue personnel race to find survivors, as many as 200 people are still unaccounted for.

Water from three overflowing rivers swept through the town of Mocoa, located in south-western Colombia, flooding homes and sweeping away vehicles as big as lorries. Most of the victims were caught unawares as the mudslides hit when they were asleep. Just after midnight, an avalanche of muddy waters and debris uprooted trees and destroyed buildings on their way leaving little time for inhabitants to cope with the situation. Mocoa, the capital of Putumayo province, lies near the border with Ecuador.

The three rivers broke their banks after a month of heavy rainfall in the region. President Juan Manuel Santos declared a state of emergency after visiting the disaster zone. He said the death toll could be higher as scores of people were still missing. Close to 400 people have been injured so far, many of critically.

Over 1,100 military and police personnel have been deployed to carry out rescue operations. But rescue work has been hampered by poor weather and lack of electricity.

Images showed troops carrying women and children over mud-caked houses and trees.

Hundreds of families have been displaced in Mocoa with local reports suggesting similar devastation in at least a dozen other hamlets in the area. Fear has gripped the area that river waters could rise again affecting the neighbourhood.

"The hospital collapsed and we don't have water, electricity and gas. The bridges are destroyed. The roads to Huila are impassable. We are fenced in," Mocoa's Mayor Jose Castro said. "The rains are going to remain inclement and I fear they could lead to another tragedy to add to the pain we people from Putumayo are already feeling."</s>A landslide in Colombia’s southwestern border province of Putumayo sent mud and debris crashing onto houses overnight, killing 154 people and injuring at least 120, officials said on Saturday.

Heavy rains caused several rivers to overflow, pushing sediment and rocks onto buildings and roads in the provincial capital of Mocoa and immobilising cars in several feet of mud.

“It has just been reported to me that we have 112 people dead,” president Juan Manuel Santos said after arriving in Mocoa and declaring a state of emergency. “We will keep looking,” he added, referring to ongoing rescue efforts. The number has since risen.

Local police said earlier on Saturday that 93 bodies had been recovered. The disaster response unit said 120 people were injured, though local media reported at least 200.

“We have sent a team of 150 people to make our response effective and machinery began work immediately,” Carlos Ivan Marquez, head of the disaster unit, said in a statement. “We will be with the governor and the mayor giving all necessary attention.”

Photos posted on Twitter by the air force showed neighborhood streets filled with mud and damaged houses while videos on social media showed residents searching for survivors in the debris and struggling to move through waist-high water overnight.

“It’s a big area,” Mocoa Mayor Jose Antonio Castro told Caracol on Saturday. “A big portion of the many houses were just taken by the avalanche, above all people were warned with enough time and they were able to get out, but houses in 17 neighborhoods have basically been erased.”

Two bridges also were destroyed, Mr Castro said.

A combination of heavy rains, a mountainous landscape and informal construction of homes makes landslides in the Andean country relatively common. Reuters
A landslide in Colombia's southwestern border department of Putumayo sends mud and debris crashing onto houses killing over 250 people and injuring at least 400 others. In addition, 200 people are missing.