On the Quibdó – Medellín highway, specifically at kilometer 17 of the municipality of Carmen del Atrato, Chocó, a serious emergency has occurred due to a landslide. Dozens of people and vehicles were trapped under the plant material.
After the emergency, the governor of the department of Chocó, Carolina Córdoba, leads the risk management council to coordinate search and rescue efforts.
“With immense pain, we regret to report a serious emergency due to a landslide on the road that leads from Quibdó to Medellín. “We have already installed the PMU and we are in the Extraordinary Risk Management Council, facing the serious emergency together with all the authorities, relief agencies and the entire departmental risk management system,” the president wrote on her social networks.
“Several pieces of land are present on the Quibdó-Medellín road. We ask citizens to refrain from traveling through said corridor until the authorities enable the road. “There continues to be rain in the area,” Cordoba said.
For her part, Vice President Francia Márquez indicated that several entities are in communication to address the emergency in Chocó and revealed that several citizens are affected:
“We have been notified of an emergency on the Quibdó – Medellín road, at kilometer 17 of the municipality of Carmen del Atrato, Chocó, as a result of a landslide that has left dozens of people and vehicles trapped in the area” , Marquez stated.
Victims
According to the authorities’ report, the landslide in Chocó has claimed the lives of eleven people. The victims were taking refuge in a home when they were surprised by the mass movement.
At the moment, the number of deaths and injuries is undetermined. The information could not be verified with certainty due to the critical conditions of the terrain and the heavy rains, as explained by the Government of Chocó.