MOCOA: Rescuers clawed through mud and timber Monday searching for survivors of a mudslide in southern Colombia that killed 262 people, including 43 children, and left relatives desperately seeking loved ones.
Survivors told of scrambling onto roofs or hanging onto trees as a sea of mud, boulders and debris engulfed the village of Mocoa late Friday.
Some watched as their children and relatives were swept helplessly away.
Among them was Ercy Lopez, 39, who was left hanging to a tree after the deluge tore away her home.
Lying on a mattress in a shelter for survivors, she said people were still searching for her 22-year-old daughter Diana Vanesa.
“The hopes of finding her alive are slim now,” she said.
Debris was everywhere in the remote Amazon town: buried cars, uprooted trees, children’s toys and odd shoes sticking up out of the mud.
Survivors gathered at the local hospital and at the cemetery to search for family members and friends.
The National Disaster Risk Management Unit raised the death toll to 262 on Monday. Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos earlier said that at least 43 children were among the dead.
“I regret to announce that the number of dead continues to rise,” Santos said.
The Red Cross counted a further 262 people injured and 220 missing.
Desperate relatives continued to search for missing children.
