MOCOA, 3 April (BelTA - WAM) - More than 250 people died, including 43 children, and hundreds injured, after torrential rains triggered severe flooding and landslides in the city of Mocoa, south-west Colombia, according to the Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos Calderon.
"We have declared a state of emergency to be able to attend to this situation in the best way possible," Colombia's President, who flew to Mocoa on Saturday to oversee rescue efforts, said.
Calderon claimed climate change for the disaster, saying Mocoa had received one-third of its usual monthly rain in just one night, causing the rivers to burst their banks. He urged Colombians to take precautions against flooding and continued rains.
The President went to Mocoa to personally supervise rescue operations involving more than 1,000 paramedics to search for potential survivors, and more than seven tonnes of medical supplies, water and electricity were sent.
Entire neighbourhoods in Mocoa, with a population of 40,000, have been devastated by torrential rains that have led to the flood of Mocoa, Mulatos and Sangoyaco rivers.
