Landslides in Colombia kill at least 150

Landslides have killed at least 90 people and many more have been left injured.

Bogotá, April 1: Hours of heavy rains caused rivers in Colombia to burst their banks and flood homes with mud in Putumayo province of Colombia on Saturday. Landslides have killed at least 150 people and many more have been left injured.

The landslides have caused lot of destruction in Colombia and an unknown number of people are missing. The number of injured people is so high that one army officer said the main local hospital was struggling to cope.

President Juan Manuel Santos has deployed the troops as part of a national emergency response. The governor of the region told the Colombian media that whole region has been buried. The mayor of the capital of the province informed media that the town was totally isolated and there was no supply of water and electricity.

President of Colombia had tweeted that he had taken charge of the situation and that citizens were in mourning for the victims.

National Disaster Risk Management Unit informed media that the landslides were caused by the rise in the water level of the Mocoa River and its three tributaries.

For Putumayo, which shares borders Ecuador and Peru, March was the rainiest month since 2011, according to the state meteorological agency.

Across Peru also more than 90 people have died since January due to unusually heavy rainfall, that has caused landslides and flash floods in Peru.

OneIndia News