34 Killed as Mudslide Swallows Bus in Colombia

A mudslide unleashed by torrential rain buried a bus and affected two other vehicles on a highway central Colombia killing at least 34 people. In a statement, the national disaster risk management unit said, eight children were among the dead.

The mudslide Sunday divided a highway in two in the town of Pueblo Rico in the district of Risaralda. There were thirty-three people aboard the bus which was buried in two meters of mud and earth and a car with six passengers and a motorcycle with two people were also affected.

More than seventy search-and-rescue workers using backhoes and other equipment tried to reach survivors but they ended their search Monday afternoon after twenty-four hours. According to Colombia's national emergency management agency, the town had been under a mudslide threat due to heavy rains caused by the La Nina weather phenomenon.