At least 17 people were killed and seven are missing after a landslide sent mud and rocks crashing into several neighborhoods in Manizales, Colombia, the government said on Wednesday, the second deadly landslide in the country this month.

Recent heavy rains have endangered residents in dozens of provincial towns, where makeshift construction on the slopes of the Andes mountains makes neighborhoods particularly susceptible to avalanches and flooding.

The landslide in Manizales, capital of coffee-growing Caldas province west of Bogota, followed a similar disaster in Mocoa, Putumayo earlier this month that killed more than 320 people and displaced thousands from their homes.</s>BOGOTA (Reuters) - At least 17 people were killed and seven are missing after a landslide sent mud and rocks crashing into several neighborhoods in Manizales, Colombia, the government said on Wednesday, the second deadly landslide in the country this month.

View of a neighborhood destroyed after mudslides, caused by heavy rains leading several rivers to overflow, pushing sediment and rocks into buildings and roads, in Manizales, Colombia April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Santiago Osorio

Recent heavy rains have endangered residents in dozens of provincial towns, where makeshift construction on the slopes of the Andes mountains makes neighborhoods particularly susceptible to avalanches and flooding.

The landslide in Manizales, capital of coffee-growing Caldas province west of Bogota, followed a similar disaster in Mocoa, Putumayo earlier this month that killed more than 320 people and displaced thousands from their homes.

“We are helping to find the disappeared ... and unfortunately the number will rise,” President Juan Manuel Santos said of the death toll after arriving in Manizales.

At least 57 houses have been affected, the government said. Local media reported that Manizales received a month’s average rainfall just overnight.

Rescuers from the Red Cross, civil defense, firefighters and armed forces are searching for the disappeared in the mud and debris of destroyed buildings.

Running water, electricity and gas services have been suspended in the areas affected by the landslides.

“The situation in Manizales is very worrying. The toll is saddening,” Transport Minister Jorge Eduardo Rojas said after meeting with the province’s governor and the mayor of the city.

The forecast is for at least another two days of rain in the area.

Even in a country where rains, a mountainous landscape and informal construction combine to make landslides a common occurrence, the scale of the Mocoa disaster far surpassed recent tragedies, including a 2015 landslide that killed nearly 100 people.

Colombia’s deadliest landslide, the 1985 Armero disaster, killed more than 20,000.</s>[BBC] – Landslides caused by heavy rain have killed at least 17 people in the city of Manizales, in central Colombia, officials say.

The search continues for at least seven others who are missing, they add. Mud and rocks have destroyed several precarious houses built on steep hills. Running water, electricity and gas services have been suspended.

The landslides happened after the monthly average of rain fell in one night, the city’s mayor said. Earlier this month, more than 300 people were killed in landslides in Mocoa, in southern Putumayo province.

President Juan Manuel Santos visited the area and said humanitarian aid was being sent. Mr Santos said the death toll was likely to rise as hopes were fading in the search for the missing.

The mayor of Manizales, José Octavio Cardona, said the city was cut off by “rock slides, mudslides, floods”. On Twitter (in Spanish), he said he would declare it a disaster zone and ask the federal government for funds to rebuild the hardest-hit areas.</s>At least 11 people were killed and 20 are missing after a landslide hit several neighborhoods in Manizales, Colombia, the government said on Wednesday, the second deadly landslide in the country this month.

Recent heavy rains have endangered residents in dozens of provincial towns, where makeshift construction on the slopes of the Andes makes neighborhoods particularly susceptible to landslides and flooding.

The landslide in Manizales, capital of Caldas province west of Bogota, followed a similar disaster in Mocoa, Putumayo earlier this month that killed more than 320 people and displaced thousands from their homes.

"The situation in Manizales is very worrying. The toll is sad, there are eleven people dead," Transport Minister Jorge Eduardo Rojas said after meeting with the province's governor and the mayor of the city.

Nine people were injured and at least 57 houses have been affected, the government said. Local media reported that Manizales received a month's average rainfall just overnight. President Juan Manuel Santos said in a Twitter post that he was trying to get to the scene, but was delayed by continuing

 bad weather.

Even in a country where rains, a mountainous landscape and informal construction combine to make landslides a common occurrence, the scale of the Mocoa disaster was daunting compared with recent tragedies, including a 2015 landslide that killed nearly 100 people.

Colombia's deadliest landslide, the 1985 Armero disaster, killed more than 20,000.</s>At least 11 people have been killed and 20 are missing after a landslide hit several neighborhoods in Manizales, Colombia, the government said on Wednesday.

President Juan Manuel Santos will travel to Manizales, the capital of Caldas province, the government said in a statement. At least 57 houses have been affected, it added.

The landslide followed a similar disaster in Mocoa, Putumayo earlier this month which killed more than 300 people and displaced thousands from their homes.</s>Mud and debris spill through streets of city in west Colombia that received equivalent of one month of rain overnight.

At least 14 people, including three children, have been killed and 20 are still missing on Thursday after a landslide hit several neighbourhoods in Manizales, western Colombia, according to the government.

Mud and debris on Wednesday spilled through the streets of Manizales, the capital of Caldas province, after it received the equivalent of one month of rain overnight.

Roads leading to Manizales have been blocked with debris making the city unreachable and the airport is closed due to poor conditions.

President Juan Manuel Santos will travel to the city via nearby Medellin, the government said in a statement. At least 57 houses have been affected, it added.

The incident happened less than three weeks after three rivers overflowed in Mocoa, near Colombia's southern border, leaving more than 300 people dead.

As in Manizales, the disaster in Mocoa struck overnight, catching many off guard in their sleep.

Jose Octavio Cardona, mayor of Manizales, told La FM radio there had been "40 or 50 landslides" provoked by a torrent of rain that began falling on Tuesday.

"The rains have been incredibly intense," he said.

More rain is forecast for the next two days</s>Mud and debris spil through streets of city in west Colombia that receives equivalent of one month of rain overnight. At least 11 people, including three children, have been killed and 20 are missing after a landslide hit several neighbourhoods in Manizales, western Colombia, according to the government.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Al Jazeera.</s>A deadly landslide has rocked Colombia for the second time this month, claiming at least 11 lives just weeks after more than 300 were killed in a similar disaster.Twenty remain missing after the landslide hit several neighbourhoods in Manizales, near the Nevado del Ruiz volcano.The city is the capital of Caldas province, one of Colombia's main coffee producing regions situated to the west of Bogota.Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said he was trying to get to the scene, but that airport closures due to bad weather had delayed his journey.He said he would make his way to the city as soon as the airports reopen.Mayor of Manizales Octavio Cardona Leon, blamed recent heavy rains for the deadly landslide, sayingLandslides are a common occurrence in the South American country, with its mountainous landscape, heavy rains and informal construction frequently combining with often disastrous effects.In 1985, the Armero disaster claimed more than 20,000 lives - a major consequence of the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz, which saw pyroclastic flows send four enormous lahars (volcanically induced mudslides, landslides and debris flows) down its slopes at 50 km/h.</s>Mud and debris spil through streets of city in west Colombia that receives equivalent of one month of rain overnight.

At least 11 people, including three children, have been killed and 20 are missing after a landslide hit several neighbourhoods in Manizales, western Colombia, according to the government.

Mud and debris on Wednesday spilled through the streets of Manizales, the capital of Caldas province, after it received the equivalent of one month of rain overnight.

President Juan Manuel Santos will travel to the city, the government said in a statement. At least 57 houses have been affected, it added.

The Red Cross said at least 20 people were missing and at least five injured.

The incident happened less than three weeks after three rivers overflowed in Mocoa, near Colombia's southern border, leaving more than 300 people dead.

As in Manizales, the disaster in Mocoa struck overnight, catching many off guard in their sleep.

Jose Octavio Cardona, mayor of Manizales, told La FM radio there "40 or 50 landslides" provoked by a torrent of rain that began falling on Tuesday.

"The rains have been incredibly intense," he said.

The 11 dead included three children and a police officer, said Jaime Gallego, chief of the civil defence of Manizales, a city of about 400,000 people.

"They were all sleeping," Gallego said.</s>A deluge of rain set off landslides that smashed homes and filled streets with mud Wednesday in a mountain city in a coffee-growing part of Colombia, and authorities said at least 17 people were killed and two dozen injured. The disaster struck in the early morning when many people in Manizales were still asleep, just as a flooding disaster two weeks ago that caused more than 300 deaths in this Andean nation’s southern city of Mocoa.

Dozens of hillsides gave way in Manizales after the city of nearly 400,000 people received the equivalent of a full month’s rain in the span of five hours. The inundation caused at least 40 to 50 avalanches of mud and rock that destroyed homes and left several roadways impassable.

Rescuers dug in thick layers of mud searching for nine people listed as missing. Among those believed buried in the debris was a man trying to help several relatives after water began entering their home. A mudslide wrecked the house while he was still inside, though all of his family members managed to escape.

“Unfortunately, everything indicates he is buried in there,” said Juan Carlos Rendon, a transit coordinator aiding operations in Manizales.

The dead included a police officer and two children. President Juan Manuel Santos attempted to reach the region but was forced to land 200 kilometers (124 miles) away in Medellin after encountering bad weather. In remarks in a live broadcast, he said residents in areas still at high risk were being evacuated and national agencies mobilized to assist in the recovery.

“It rained in Manizales like it has never rained before,” Santos said. The landslides occurred as Colombia is still recovering from the March 31 disaster in Mocoa, and the two incidents drew several immediate parallels. Both caught unsuspecting residents off guard in the early morning hours after the cities received unprecedented amounts of rain. Both also struck hardest at poor people living in precarious housing developments.

In one Manizales neighborhood hit yesterday, several houses had been constructed on a mountain slope despite it being known to be at risk for landslides, Rendon said. One resident, Ana Henao, said she was at home with her 12-year-old daughter Tuesday evening when their roof began to collapse from the intense rains. They stayed awake in fear that worse might still be to come.

When a stream of mud began burying the home, she and her daughter got to safety.
At least 17 people are killed after an Andean landslide strikes the Colombian city of Manizales.