There were 92 children among the 301 people killed in the giant mudslide that slammed the southern Colombian town of Mocoa last week, the government said on Thursday.
The landslide hit late Friday after heavy rains caused three rivers to flood, strewing earth, rocks and trees over the area. The death toll of children was made public by the country’s Disasters Risk Management office.
The disaster came after deadly flooding in Peru killed more than 100 people and destroyed infrastructure. Families of the dead will receive about $6,400 in aid and the government will cover hospital and funeral costs.
Even in a country where heavy rains, a mountainous landscape and informal construction combine to make landslides a common occurrence, the scale of the Mocoa disaster was daunting compared to recent tragedies, including a 2015 landslide that killed nearly 100 people.
Colombia’s deadliest landslide, the 1985 Armero disaster, killed more than 20,000 people.
Santos urged Colombians to take precautions against flooding and continued rains.
The president also thanked China and the Inter-American Development Bank for donating $1 million and $200,000 respectively toward relief efforts.
(Feature image source: Reuters)
