Toll from Colombia landslide climbs to 48
November 11, 2011 00:00:00
BOGOTA, Nov 10 (AFP): Colombian search crews have found four more bodies days after a devastating mudslide, raising the toll from the disaster to 48, according to authorities.
"The toll at this stage is 48 fatalities, including the recovered bodies," said Henry Murillo, a security official in the department of Caldas, of which Manizales is the capital. His announcement came four days after the mudslide roared through Manizales, a city of 350,000 west of Bogota, demolishing as many as 14 houses.
At least 96 people have died as a result of Colombia's second annual rainy season, according to the Red Cross. The toll includes the 48 in Manizales. State weather monitors have warned that the heavy rains, which began in September, will last through the first months of 2012 due to the cyclical La Nina weather phenomenon.