As night fell after one of Colombia’s darkest days in recent history, rescue workers had pulled 234 dead from the mud and rubble left by an avalanche that devastated the southern town of Mocoa.
Two hundred people were still missing as the sun went down.
In a state of shock, and without electricity or drinking water, the inhabitants of the town entered their first night after the disaster that destroyed much of the capital of the Putumayo province.
The falling of night severely limits rescue workers’ ability to find survivors under the rubble and mud left by Colombia’s deadliest natural disaster in decades, particularly because the town is without electricity and roads have become impassable.
Meanwhile, desperate locals are still hoping to find signs of life of some who were still missing.
The hospital collapsed and we don’t have water, electricity and gas. The bridges are destroyed. The roads to Huila are impassible. We are fenced in.
Mocoa Mayor Jose Castro
(Image credit: President’s Office)
Ongoing rains spur fears that the waters of the Mocoa, Mulato and the Sancoyaco rivers could swell and overflow again, making nocturnal rescue work even more dangerous.
The rains are are going to remain inclement and I fear they could lead to another tragedy to add to the pain we people from Putumayo are already feeling.
Mocoa Mayor Jose Castro
Parts of the city were evacuated in their totality to shelter those who lost their homes and prevent more victims in the event the rivers’ waters rise again.
Hamlets located in the rural areas around the town were also affected. However, at the end of the day there was no clarity how many could have died downstream or what the damage is in these remote Amazonian communities.
While in Mocoa for an emergency visit, President Juan Manuel Santos declared a state of emergency, allowing the national government to send more resources to the town.
Santos declares state of emergency as south Colombia disaster death toll rises
According to the mayor, “much” of the town suffered damaged because of the avalanche, with at least one central neighborhood wiped off the face of the earth entirely.
Seventeen neighborhoods were affected. Some of them disappeared entirely like San Miguel, and parts of Los Laureles, San Fernando and El Progreso, which is where I live. The house has been completely destroyed.
Mocoa Mayor Jose Castro
Colombia’s military engineers have been called in to immediately fix the bridges in and around the city, effectively reconnecting it to the rest of the country.
Some 2,500 members of the military, police and rescue agencies will spend the night in the town.
The United Nations’ children’s agency UNICEF called for donations “to immediately attend the basic needs of the children who are most affected and are most vulnerable in situations like this.”
