Yetunde Daniel
Thirty-nine people have been killed in a landslide in Antioquia province in northwest Columbia, officials say.
The director of Antioquia’s Disaster Prevention Department told newsmen that more than 20 people were injured after the landslide on Monday morning.
According to Columbian authorities, heavy rains caused the river Liboriana to burst its banks, triggering the landslide.
Much of the village of Santa Margarita, southwest of the provincial capital Medellin, was reportedly swept away when the landslide hit early on Monday.
Antioquia governor Sergio Fajardo in a tweet said, the landslide is a “tragedy” and “that all emergency teams have been scrambled.”
Bodies are still being recovered and the authorities expect the number of fatalities to rise.
Police in Antioquia put the number of confirmed deaths at 39. President Juan Manuel Santos is travelling to the town of Salgar to assess the damage.
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