Search of Missing Persons among Debris in Mocoa, Colombia, Continues

Search of Missing Persons among Debris in Mocoa, Colombia, Continues
Fecha de publicación: 
4 April 2017
0
Imagen principal: 

Bogotá, April 4 (Prensa Latina) Survivors of one of the worst humanitarian tragedies in Colombia, Mocoa residents woke up again today in the mud and debris left by the avalanches, where they are still searching for missing relatives.

And although President Juan Manuel Santos ruled out the possibility of another devastating mudslide, the villagers look with suspicion on the surrounding rivers whose overflow left at least 273 dead and 262 injured persons.

According to the Red Cross, the villagers are trying to find around 300 people who have been missing since last Saturday.

The avalanches of mud and stone dragged trees, houses, bridges and everything they found in their path.

After a review carried out by the Air Force in all the rivers and streams near Mocoa, it was possible to conclude that there is no danger of another avalanche at this moment, the governor insisted.

A total of 70 injured persons were transferred to health centers outside the municipality and 27 are in the local hospital, while Legal Medicine handed the bodies of 100 victims to their relatives, said the president in a message to citizens.

'Now -he added- comes the prevention phase in order to avoid epidemics in shelters where part of the victims are refugees and in the city, capital of the southern department of Putumayo.'

Yesterday, Santos appointed the defense minister, Luis Carlos Villegas, as manager for the reconstruction of Mocoa, a hot territory of 50 thousand inhabitants located in the foothills of the Amazon.

In May 2015 a similar event struck the settlement of Salgar Antioquia; then the floods caused the death of more than a hundred people.

Add new comment

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.