Local authorities say twenty people are missing after a mudslide hit a village in the north Colombian Santander department.
“The mountain fell on top of some houses located alongside the road between Rionegro and El Playon, destroying the homes. It appears that some 20 people were at that place and we haven’t been able to find them so far,” Santander police commander Mario Aurelio Pedroza told Caracol Radio.
The army and police are using helicopters to evacuate residents from the area where authorities fear other deadly landslides.
The Santander department is one most severely hit by landslides caused by excessive rains. The roads connecting the capital Bucaramanga with the Caribbean coast and the center of the country have been closed because of landslides and according to authorities at least four people were killed and another 20 missing in the past few weeks.
This year’s rainy season is the most deadly in recorded history; More than 280 people were killed in floods or landslides since the rains began in March and more than 2 million Colombians are affected by the weather.
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