The WorldPostU.S. NewsInternational NewsColombia

Photos Show Aftermath Of Colombia's Deadly Floods

Hundreds of people are dead, injured or missing.
Lydia O'Connor
By 

Senior Reporter, HuffPost

LOADINGERROR LOADING

More than 250 people have died in southwest Colombia following heavy rains, flooding and landslides over the weekend.

Photos from Mocoa, the capital of the Putumayo province ravaged by the disaster, show residents and emergency personnel walking debris-filled streets, digging through rubble in search of victims and waiting to identify bodies.

Downpours caused multiple rivers around Mocoa to overflow and push water, mud and rubble into homes as people slept, killing at least 254 people, Reuters reported. Another 400 people were injured, while 200 remain missing, the army said.

This was Colombia’s rainiest March since 2011, the BBC reported.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos traveled to the affected area on Saturday to oversee the emergency response.

“My heart and the hearts of all Colombians are with the victims of this tragedy,” he told reporters on the scene.

See photos of the devastation below:

LUIS ROBAYO via Getty Images
A man walks in a muddy street in Mocoa on April 2.
Jaime Saldarriaga / Reuters
A dog wanders a street destroyed after flooding and mudslides in Mocoa on April 2.
Handout . / Reuters
An aerial view of Mocoa on April 1.
LUIS ROBAYO via Getty Images
A fireman searches for victims inside a muddy house in Mocoa on April 2.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos visits the disaster area in Mocoa on April 1.
Handout . / Reuters
Santos, fourth from right, gestures while visiting a flooded area in Mocoa on April 1.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
An aerial view of the deadly landslide in Mocoa on April 1.
Jaime Saldarriaga / Reuters
A man walks among the ruins in Mocoa on April 2.
Handout . / Reuters
An aerial view of Mocoa on April 1.
Jaime Saldarriaga / Reuters
A man walks among the ruins in Mocoa on April 2.
Jaime Saldarriaga / Reuters
A man looks at a destroyed street in Mocoa on April 2.
Jaime Saldarriaga / Reuters
People wait to identify bodies in Mocoa on April 2.
Jaime Saldarriaga / Reuters
A man walks among the ruins in Mocoa on April 2.
Jaime Saldarriaga / Reuters
People walk on a destroyed street in Mocoa on April 2.
Jaime Saldarriaga / Reuters
A man walks on a street destroyed in Mocoa on April 2.
LUIS ROBAYO via Getty Images
A man talks on his phone while walking down a damaged street in Mocoa on April 2.
AFP via Getty Images
Rescue workers carry the bodies of victims at a cemetery in Villagarzon on April 1.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Colombian soldiers evacuate victims in Mocoa on April 1.
LUIS ROBAYO via Getty Images
People look at the damage caused by mudslides in Mocoa on April 1.

Related

U.S. NewsInternational NewsColombiaNatural DisastersFloods
|
Submit a tip

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot