Avalanche leaves 11 dead and several missing in central Colombia

At least 11 people have been killed, a dozen injured and several missing so far, an avalanche caused by the overflow of a river in the town of Quetame, in the department of Cundinamarca, in central Colombia.

The intense rains that occurred during the night of Monday and early Tuesday caused an avalanche of mud and water, leaving more than 20 houses buried, authorities reported.

From his Twitter account, the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, expressed his condolences to the affected families and regretted the tragedy, saying the death that reaches Quetame, Cundinamarca, demonstrates the urgent need to order the territory around the water.

The army reported that it deployed a group of soldiers trained in disaster care and prevention to help in the search and rescue of the disappeared.

“The army began the displacement towards the disaster zone, specialized search and rescue teams, 42 specialized care soldiers and 30 basic care soldiers for a total of 81 troops,” said Colonel Juan Carmona, commander of the Care Brigade. and Disaster Prevention.

For his part, the governor of the central department of Cundinamarca, Nicolás García, said that several minors were among the dead and disappeared.

“The work of the relief forces continues. At this time, Risk Management reports 8 bodies in the process of being rescued, seven adults, one minor. At the Cáqueza Hospital, five injured people are treated and a minor is treated at the Villavicencio Clinic, ”García explained from his Twitter profile.

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