Colombia mudslide toll touches around 200

The death toll from a devastating landslide in the Colombian town of Mocoa stood at around 200 on Sunday as rescuers clawed through piles of muck and debris in search of survivors. The Colombian Red Cross, which provided the revised consolidated toll, said that it was unclear how many people were still missing.

An earlier Red Cross tally said 234 had been killed and more than 100 were unaccounted for. A spokesman for the organization said the miscount was due to confusion about the identities of the victims.

At the Vatican, Pope Francis said that he was “profoundly saddened” by the disaster, which struck the town of 40,000 with little warning late on Friday after days of torrential rains that caused flooding of three area rivers. “I pray for the victims and want to assure those who weep for the missing of my closeness to them,” the Pope said in a statement.

At least, 203 people were injured, some 300 families were affected and 25 homes destroyed, the Red Cross said. The Pacific rim of South America has been hard hit in recent months by floods and mudslides, with scores killed in Peru and Ecuador as well.

In Mocoa, the capital of the department of Putumayo in Colombia’s Amazon basin, the avalanche of mud and water swept away homes, bridges, vehicles and trees, leaving piles of wrecked timber buried in thick mud.

President Juan Manuel Santos was scheduled to return to Mocoa on Sunday along with Cabinet ministers to supervise rescue efforts in the heavily forested region.

The President met with rescuers and survivors in Mocoa on Saturday, and declared a public health and safety emergency to speed up rescue and aid operations.