Skip to content

Landslide buries 50 homes in northwestern Colombia

A landslide following weeks of drenching rains has buried more than 50 homes in northwestern Colombia, apparently trapping dozens of people.
Colombia Landslide
Police and residents dig at the site where a landslide buried dozens of homes following weeks of drenching rains in Bello

BELLO, Colombia — A landslide following weeks of drenching rains has buried more than 50 homes in northwestern Colombia, apparently trapping dozens of people.

Antioquia state emergency management director John Rendon says one body has been recovered. He says between 40 and 50 people are believed missing.

Landslides are common in Colombia’s rugged Andes mountains, and rains have been especially heavy this year.

Rendon said sniffer dogs were attempting to locate people by Sunday’s landslide in the Medellin suburb of Bello beneath tons of sodden earth. Authorities are also trying to get heavy equipment to the scene.

The Red Cross attributes at least 176 deaths to heavy rains in Colombia so far this year.