Death toll in Colombia mudslide climbs to 44

Dec 8, 2010, 18:57 GMT

Bogota - The death toll from a mammoth mudslide near Medellin has reached 44, with 73 people still reported missing, Colombian officials said.

The update on Wednesday came a day after the Colombian government issued a disaster declaration following months of heavy rains that have claimed 218 lives and left 119 people still missing from floods and landslides.

In addition, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos declared an economic, social and ecological emergency to open the flow of support for the 2 million Colombians who have suffered in the weather catastrophe that started in October.

An estimated 2,000 homes have been destroyed and 330,000 families are living in makeshift refuges in recent months. An estimated 275,000 buildings have also been damaged.

Most of the affected are the poorest in country who live on the dangerous steep hillsides that collapse into mudslides, or on risky flood plains.

The roads, electricity system and other infrastructure as well as agriculture have been crippled.

In the disaster near Medellin, where a hillside collapsed on Sunday, workers have recovered 44 bodies and are looking for another 73.

'The challenges far exceed our financial capability and also the capacity of aid organizations,' Santos said.

The South American country has appealed to the international community, and has received help from the European Union, South Korea, Venezuela and Chile.

Meteorologists say the rain is the worst in four decades, the result of the La Nina weather phenomenon that revisits the region every so often. Cold water from the Pacific Ocean's depths surges to the surface, causing drought in some areas of the region while dumping excessive rain on others. Rains in Colombia could last into the new year, meteorologists said.

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