At least 18 people died buried this Friday two landslides happened on a highway near the city Carmen de Atratoin the Colombian department of Choco (west), where some remains 35 woundedOfficial sources reported this.

“Are 18 dead identified“Jaime Herrera told Noticias Caracol: mayor Carmen de Atrato, the municipality in the vicinity of which the landslide occurred, buried several cars who were detained apparently due to an avalanche that had earlier blocked the highway between Medellin and Quibdo, the capital of Chocó.

IN video As eyewitnesses of the tragedy recorded, a line of cars stopped on the road waiting for the passage to open, when suddenly the mountain is falling burying them along with the residents.

The mayor added that Death toll may rise because the relief teams continue removal of tons of land what fell on the travelers.

“Today 18 people” died as a result of an avalanche, which also left behind unknown number of wounded and disappeared, he added.

From my side, Governor of Choco, Nubia Carolina Cordobathe statement reads, “that serious emergency on the road leading from Quibdo to Medellin, in the sector known as El 17″, but he did not give a death toll, although he did talk about tasks of “extracting bodies” and immediate assistance to the wounded.”

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“Faced with the sad situation in Chocó […] We pray for the success of the rescue operations. My solidarity with the victims and their families at this painful moment for our department and the country,” he said in his account. X He Ambassador of Colombia to WashingtonLuis Gilberto Murillo, a native of Chocó.

Previously Vice President of ColombiaFrancia Marquez stated this. X having been informed “of an emergency situation on the Quibdo-Medellin highway, in the midst of 17 kilometer of the municipality del Carmen del Atrato, Chocó, after a landslide that left dozens of people and vehicles stranded in the area.”

According to the vice-president, according to preliminary data, “as a result of the avalanche, five people may die and about 30 people may be injured.”

“We have information about Emergency Control Center that in the Toldas sector about 50 people took refuge from rain in the house and right above this house slide“, he said for his part Karakol News chapter Operations of the Colombian Red CrossLina Dorado.

(EFE)