BOGOTA: At least 33 people, mostly children, were killed in a landslide in an indigenous community in northwestern Colombia, the country’s vice president said on Saturday. “I deeply regret the death of 33 people in this tragedy, mostly children, according to preliminary reports from the territory,” Vice President Francia Marquez wrote on social media site X, the former Twitter.

Earlier, officials had put the toll in Friday’s landslide, which hit a road linking the cities of Medellin and Quibdo in Choco department, at 23 dead and 20 injured.

“All the help available (is being sent) to Choco in this horrible tragedy,” President Gustavo Petro said on social media.

The landslide in Choco, which lies on the Pacific Ocean and is home to a vast tropical forest, followed more than 24 hours of intense rain. Images shared on social networks and on television channels showed part of a mountain detaching and crashing down onto a line of cars, while screams are heard. While much of Colombia is suffering a period of drought, the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies has warned of the risk of heavy rains in the Amazon and in several departments bordering the Pacific.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2024