While the relief agencies announced that there are already 20 fatalities from the landslide that occurred in the Quetame village, on the Llano road, the national government announced a series of measures to solve the problem in this road corridor.
Captain Álvaro Farfán, Cundinamarca departmental fire department delegate, said that the number may continue to rise, since nine more people are missing inside the rubble, in addition to a possible affectation of 50 homes in the area known as Puente Quetame, after the heavy rains.
bridges
On the other hand, the Minister of Transportation, William Camargo Triana, made a technical visit to the Llano highway on Wednesday morning and announced that two metal bridges will be installed in order to restore traffic through this important corridor.
The assembly of the infrastructure will be done in coordination with the National Army and the Concessionaire, subject to the currently adverse weather conditions in the area. According to the schedule, the first bridge will be ready for next Friday, July 28, enabling alternate passage in both directions.
According to the minister, starting today, “in a week the passage would be enabled at the emergency site, in a controlled manner (one by one) and in two weeks the installation of a second bridge (semi-permanent metal) would continue, which would guarantee normal operation on the site.”
more flights
Within the framework of the visit, the official reiterated that Aerocivil undertook actions to expand the availability of flights to and from the Villavicencio airport, with supervision of ticket prices.
“What we have asked Aerocivil and which is already working with the three airlines that have flights in the area, is to establish a ceiling for ticket prices and additionally increase frequencies. This is added to an additional capacity that we have requested from inter-municipal transport companies so that on alternative routes they can increase dispatch frequencies and maintain rate bands that respect probation,” said the official, who added that the entities in charge are carrying out the respective surveillance in this regard.
in-depth solutions
The President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro, expressed his condolences this Wednesday to the families of the victims for the avalanche that occurred in Quetame, and announced that he intends to discuss with the inhabitants of Cundinamarca, and the Eastern Plains, to prevent this type of event and that there be “in-depth solutions and not just an emergency.”
“I want to express my heartfelt condolences to the families that have had victims, deaths, injuries, in the natural disaster that has occurred in Quetame, Cundinamarca,” the President said in a message to the inhabitants of the tragedy.
He warned that, in said region, the Naranjal ravine and the Negro river “still have anomalous behaviors due to the instability of the terrain” and stressed that for this reason “the Government has provided an amount of money so that the people who are still there can relocate immediately”.
“The danger has not ceased and it is essential that the number of victims does not grow,” the President noted and specified that “technical teams have already been transferred to Quetame to implement the position of quickly installed metal bridges” and there are two alternate routes for the transport of heavy cargo and passengers.