Wall of water slams Colombia city: Nearly 200 are dead and hundreds missing or hurt.
Hundreds hurt or missing after river overflows banks in Mocoa
“These rains are increasingly more intense, so we have to be ready.” Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos
A massive wall of water carrying mud and debris crashed through a small city in southwest Colombia overnight, killing at least 193 people, some of them still in their beds, after heavy rains caused three nearby rivers to overflow.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced the rising death toll Saturday evening. Rescuers continued to search for survivors, with 220 people unaccounted for.
The deluge struck around midnight, washing away trees, vehicles, houses and everything in its path. It injured 202 people, more than 20 of them so seriously they had to be airlifted to other cities.
Eduardo Vargas says he was able to flee with his wife and 7month-old baby only because neighbors banged on his door to alert him. He and his family climbed up a small mountain to safety before their home was destroyed by rushing water.
“Nothing left,” he said Satur- day after returning to the site, according to the Associated Press. “But thank God we have our lives.”
Warning the death toll could rise as the search for survivors continues, Santos declared a state of emergency for Mocoa, a small city of about 40,000 located near the southern border with Ecuador.
Santos blamed climate change for the wall of water that knocked out power in half the province of Putumayo,