Colombia landslide barrels onto highway; 6 dead, over dozen missing

At least six people died on a highway leading to Colombia's city of Medellin after a landslide barreled onto the road due to heavy rain, officials said.

The landslide occurred about 7 miles north of Medellin in near the Copacabana town in Colombia's Antioquia province Wednesday. Authorities said rescuers were searching for more than a dozen people.

"Recommendations to enter alternate routes into Medellin," the Metropolitan Police of Valle de Aburrá said in a statement.

Germán Vélez, manager of DEMIVED, an agency in charge of maintenance of the Medellin-Bogota highway, said teams are prepared to begin clearing the landslide debris but only after authorities confirm no more lives can be saved, Caracol Radio reported.

"Right now the team is now ready to move the collapse, we have equipment, excavators, dump trucks; we also have installed a command post with the presence of all rescue units of the municipalities in the jurisdiction of the project, and the work of removing the collapse can only be started after rescuers confirm to us that no victims can be saved," Velez said.
 [upi.com]
27/10/16