At least two dead in landslides in northwestern Colombia

At least two people have been killed by landslides as a result of heavy rains that have been falling in recent hours in the department of Antioquia, in northwestern Colombia.

The victims are two minors. One is ten years old and the other is fifteen years old. The first one died after a landslide fell on his house, where five other people were living, in the village of El Llano, in the municipality of Yarumal.

On the other hand, in the municipality of Betulia, a fifteen year old teenager has been surprised by a landslide when he was driving a motorcycle. The mayor of the town, Juan Manuel Lema, reported that the other person traveling with the victim was “unharmed”, reports RCN radio station.

The heavy rains that have been falling in recent days in Colombia have caused 99 municipalities to decree a red alert, 70 of them for risk of flooding and 29 others for landslides.

The Ombudsman, Carlos Camargo, has detailed that it is Antioquia, with 17 municipalities on red alert, the most affected department, followed by Casanare and Meta, with fifteen; and Bolivar with eleven.

“In recent years there has been a considerable increase in natural disasters in the country. In 2021 there were 802 floods, compared to the 428 that occurred in 2020, which is an increase of 87 percent,” Camargo has recounted.

“When communities suffer from a flood or landslide, not only is their right to enjoyment or a healthy environment affected, but it also affects health, work, decent housing, food security, access to water, even life itself,” he warned.