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Four killed, 12 missing in landslide in Colombia

19 July 2013 03:18 (UTC +04:00)

Among the vehicles trapped by the landslide were two buses, an ambulance and a tanker truck.

"So far, four people have been confirmed dead, one of them a bus driver, and surely that number will rise a little due to the situation that is taking place," the director general of the Red Cross National Rescue office, Cesar Urena, told local media.

Eyewitnesses said the landslide occurred at around 6 a.m. local time (11:00 GMT) as several vehicles were backed up, waiting for the highway to be cleared after a smaller landslide had blocked traffic.

"Some young people arrived to clear away that landslide, but almost an hour later a gigantic landslide occurred, and people were shouting, and from that point I knew nothing more about my partner and my passengers, not a thing," a driver said.

Some 25,000 cubic meters of dirt and rubble buried several vehicles at km 38 of the highway linking the town of Suaza, in Huila department (state), with Florencia, in Caqueta department.

The injured were taken to several nearby hospitals, according to German Andres Miranda, a member of the local firefighting brigade.

Miranda said "the roadway is totally closed due to the accident, " and added members of the Civil Defense, Highway Police and National Army were aiding the rescue efforts.

So far only one of the victims has been identified, Cesar Arias, a driver of one of the vehicles.