Death Toll in Colombia Landslide Rises to 47

The confirmed death toll from Sunday’s mudslide in the Colombian town of Bello reached 47, with some 80 people still missing.
Death Toll in Colombia Landslide Rises to 47
12/8/2010
Updated:
12/8/2010
The confirmed death toll from Sunday’s mudslide in the Colombian town of Bello reached 47, with some 80 people still missing, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.

Antioquia State Emergency Management Director John Rendon said it is impossible to find survivors buried in mud 26 feet deep, according to AP.

The slide, which is the severest tragedy in what has been the country’s worst rainy season in 42 years, occurred because water has saturated the region, and buried about 50 houses in Bello, a municipality in Antioquia.

Around 500 people are trying to recover the bodies that are still missing, according to AP.

“We are going to work 24 hours a day until we recover the last body; it is the least we can do”, said Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, according to BBC News.

Mr. Santos has declared a state of emergency, providing his government with more powers to handle the flooding, funded by emergency taxes and loans.