People work in a zone affected by the landslide in Mocoa, Colombia, on April 2, 2017. Rescue work keeps on going in Colombia's southwest city of Mocoa, in the department of Putumayo, early Sunday, following a tragic mudslide that devastated 17 neighborhoods and killed 207. (Xinhua/Juan Zamara Perini)
by Sylvia B. Zarate
MOCOA, Colombia, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Rescue work keeps on going in Colombia's southwest city of Mocoa, in the department of Putumayo, early Sunday, following a tragic mudslide that devastated 17 neighborhoods and killed 207.
Efforts to locate the scores of people still missing are continuing, said Carlos Ivan Marquez, director of the National Disaster Risk Management Unit (UNGRD).
"We have a major challenge, which is to search for the missing. But there are 400 experts looking through the (river) basins and by air, via helicopters, and by inflatable boats, to make the effort more effective," he said.
To bolster the rescue operations, the government has mobilized police force and army forces, he said.
President Juan Manuel Santos "has activated a system where more than 1,500 people are working" to rescue those in peril or recover the bodies of victims, said Marquez, adding "203 injured people are being treated, and we have evacuated those who needed to be with the help of the air force."
In the meantime, at the Normandia Cemetery in Mocoa, a city in Colombia's Amazonian region, the bodies of the flood victims continue to arrive, accompanied by bereaved families.
At the cemetery, Robinson Lopez, of the National Organization for Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon, called on Colombians and others to express their solidarity with the victims.
In the wake of the tragedy, Mocoa "is in need of humanitarian aid, medicine, water, food, housing and shelters for the people who lost everything," said Lopez.
Carlos Lopez, a local resident, recalled how a heavy downpour on Friday night turned into a natural disaster in just a matter of hours.
"It began to rain heavily that night. Rains in Mocoa are quick, but that day they lasted more than three hours, and I realized a catastrophe was taking shape when they called me (to return home)," said Lopez, the resident who was on the other side of the river at the time.
"I returned to cross (the river), but I couldn't because the river had grown too large; I had to wait. We never imagined the disaster and catastrophe we were going to find in the morning ... the number of dead and injured," he added.
The Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF) reported that even though its two orphanages in Mocoa were washed away by the wall of water that hit the town, all children were relocated and none of them were hurt.
"The most important thing is to guarantee the wellbeing of minors, and that is why we are letting the community know that the ICBF's doors are open to attend to and protect children in need of help at this time," said Carol Burbano, the ICBF regional director for Putumayo.
President Santos returned to Mocoa on Sunday to head the recovery efforts, accompanied by his wife Maria Clemencia Rodriguez, who has been put in charge of attending to local children separated from their parents.
"Sadly, there are 47 bodies" of minors, said Santos, adding he was also traveling with the head of the ICBF, Cristina Plazas, to ensure the young victims of the tragedy are well attended to.
"We have brought clothing, blankets, towels and have already begun the psychological and social attention," said Santos.
Chinese President Xi Jinping sent on Sunday a message of condolences to President Santos over the tragic disaster.
The Chinese people would like to offer help in disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction, Xi said, adding that he also believed that the Colombian people will definitely be able to overcome the aftermath of the disaster and rebuild their homeland under the leadership of President Santos and his government.
