Officers say no less than 33 other people have died in mudslides attributable to heavy rains within the province of Choco.

A minimum of 33 other people were killed in a landslide attributable to heavy rains in northwestern Colombia, officers have mentioned.

“I deeply feel sorry about the dying of 33 other people on this tragedy, most commonly youngsters, in line with initial experiences from the territory,” Vice President Francia Marquez wrote at the social media platform X on Saturday.

“At the moment, seek and rescue movements proceed for the individuals who stay trapped,” she mentioned.

The mudslide, which took place on Friday afternoon, lined a roadway that connects the towns of Quibdo and Medellin within the Pacific province of Choco, government mentioned.

En estos momentos continúan las acciones de búsqueda y rescate de las personas que permanecen atrapadas bajo el deslizamiento de tierra en los angeles vía Quibdó-Medellín, en Carmen del Atrato.

Lamento profundamente el fallecimiento de 33 personas en esta tragedia, en su mayoría niñas y…

— Francia Márquez Mina (@FranciaMarquezM) January 13, 2024

Dozens had been additionally injured on a hectic freeway, and a few other people had been lacking after dust engulfed a number of vehicles at the street.

A specialized rescue workforce from the Colombian police rescued survivors and retrieved our bodies on Saturday.

Government in Medellin mentioned that, as of early Saturday, 17 our bodies have been transported there and that forensic examiners had known 3 of them, the AFP information company reported. No names had been launched.

With a number of street closures, rescue crews and firefighters struggled to succeed in the hardest-hit space.

“Since final evening, now we have been operating hand-in-hand with emergency and aid organisations at the Quibdo-Medellin street,” the police mentioned. “We deployed all our functions to rescue and assist the ones affected.”

About 50 infantrymen additionally arrived to help, and pictures launched by way of the military confirmed mud-covered males suffering via swampy terrain.

“All of the assist to be had [is being sent] to Choco on this terrible tragedy,” President Gustavo Petro mentioned on social media on Friday.

The landslide in Choco, which lies at the Pacific Ocean and is house to an infinite tropical woodland, adopted greater than 24 hours of intense rain.

Pictures on social media confirmed the instant a big piece of land dislodged from a mountain and fell on most sensible of a number of vehicles that had been shifting alongside the flooded street under.

The street has been closed by way of Colombia’s Nationwide Unit for Crisis Possibility Control (UNGRD).

A landslide in the similar a part of Colombia in December 2022 killed no less than 27 other people, trapping other people in a bus and different automobiles.

Whilst a lot of Colombia is struggling a duration of drought, the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Research has warned of the chance of heavy rains within the Amazon and in numerous departments bordering the Pacific.