Families and rescuers searched desperately today through mud-plastered rubble for victims of flooding and landslides in Colombia that have killed at least 210 people, injured hundreds and devastated entire neighbourhoods.
Several rivers burst their banks near the southwestern city of Mocoa in the early hours of yesterday, sending water, mud and debris crashing down streets and into houses as people slept.
Volunteers and firefighters tended to 82 bodies downstream in the town of Villagarzon and said many corpses were still caught in debris.
"We had to recover them ourselves. We think we'll find more," Villagarzon Mayor Jhon Ever Calderon said, adding that the town had no coffins or sanitary storage.
Many families in Mocoa stayed up through the night to search in the debris, despite the lack of electricity in the city.
President Juan Manuel Santos made a second visit to the area today. He said water and energy services would be restored as soon as possible.
Mr Santos blamed climate change for the disaster, saying Mocoa had received one-third of its usual monthly rain in just one night, causing the rivers to burst their banks.
The army said yesterday that the death toll was 254, with 400 people injured, but Mr Santos gave a lower toll of 210 killed and 203 injured.
Mr Santos urged Colombians to brace for continued rains and to take precautions against flooding.
Disaster officials said 600 people were staying in emergency housing and social services had helped 10 lost children find their parents.
The disaster came amid extreme weather across the region, including deadly flooding in Peru and drought-induced forest fires in Chile.
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Families of the dead will receive about $6,400 in aid, Mr Santos said. The government will cover hospital and funeral costs.
Even in a country where heavy rains, a mountainous landscape and informal construction combine to make landslides a common occurrence, the scale of the Mocoa disaster was daunting compared to recent tragedies, including a 2015 landslide that killed nearly 100 people in Antioquia.
Colombia's deadliest landslide, the 1985 Armero disaster, left more than 20,000 dead.
