At least 37 people have been killed in a series of landslides in Colombia’s northwestern Chocó area, authorities from the Prosecutor’s Office told CNN en Español on Saturday. The devastation occurred on a road between the cities of Quibdó and Medellín after 24 hours of heavy rainfall, and the latest report did not specify how many had been injured.
Governor Nubia Carolina Córdoba Curi expressed her sadness, saying, “We are experiencing a very sad weekend for Chocó. Our people feel the pain of the victims. I will not rest until I make sure that all Chocoans have information about their relatives.”
Colombia’s Vice President Francia Marquez stated that at least 17 bodies have been transferred to Medellin for forensic examination, and various agencies, including the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management, Colombian Civil Defense, the National Army, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, and the Choco police department, have been mobilized to respond to the incident.
The landslides came just four years after a deadly mudslide in a remote southern area of Colombia in 2017, when torrential rains resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people in the city of Mocoa.
The historic context adds depth to the tragic situation, as the Colombian people grapple with yet another natural disaster. Images on social media showed the moment a large piece of land dislodged from a mountain and fell on top of several cars that were moving along the flooded road below, highlighting the sheer force of nature in these harrowing events.
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