The number of victims by avalanche in Quetame increases to 26

The number of fatalities after an avalanche passed through the municipality of Quetame, in Colombia, rose to 26 this Friday, official sources reported, while rescue efforts continue.

“The relief forces have confirmed to me the rescue of five more bodies in Quetame. We add 26 deaths in this tragedy that mourns Cundinamarca. My solidarity with all the families and their deep pain,” reported the governor of the department of Cundinamarca, Nicolás García Bustos, through social networks.

Likewise, Álvaro Farfán, captain of the Cundinamarca Fire Department, confirmed that the tragedy leaves seven people missing, so far.

“The body was found in the jurisdiction of the municipality of Quetame, exactly in the village of Naranjal, near the tollbooth. It has already been recovered and we are waiting for the CTI for its respective recognition,” said Farfán, referring to the Criminal and Judicial Investigation Technical Corps, according to the newspaper. Time.

For its part, the National Unit for Risk and Disaster Management (UNGRD) issued a statement on Thursday, stating that taking into account “the damming” of the Contador River, search and rescue tasks for the disappeared were suspended, because “these tasks will generate an increase in the level and flow that flows into the Negro River.”

In this sense, they also announced the start of “the work of preventive evacuation of the inhabitants surrounding the Contador River area.”

Authorities also reported that 118 families were evacuated. UNGRD figures indicate that the disaster has so far left 29 families and 62 people affected, 12 houses affected and 10 destroyed.

On Tuesday, heavy rains caused the overflow of two tributary streams of the Negro River, causing an avalanche of mud and water, that devastated part of the Naranjal village, located in the rural area of ​​Quetame.