BOGOTA (Reuters) – At least 12 people died when a landslide buried a bus in Colombia’s northwest on Sunday, authorities and rescue agencies said.
The landslide, caused by strong rains, hit the vehicle between the villages of Pueblo Rico and Santa Cecilia in Risaralda province, about 230km (140 miles) from the capital Bogota.
“Unfortunately, the result is that 12 people were killed in this tragedy,” Victor Manuel Tamayo, Risaralda’s governor, told reporters on Monday.
Five people had been rescued alive and rescue workers were will searching the scene for others, he added.
“All the work is being done to recover the bodies that are still inside the bus,” Tamayo said.
Officials said at least 25 people were on the bus traveling between Cali, Colombia’s third largest city, and Condoto, in Choco province.
Colombia had been hit by an unusually heavy rainy season, blamed on the La Nina weather phenomenon,
Events linked to heavy rains have killed more than 216 people and left 538,000 homeless so far in 2022, according to government statistics. Another 48 people are still missing across the country, the figures show.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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