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Rescue nears completion in Colombia landslide disaster

Xinhua, May 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

Colombia's disaster response service said Wednesday search and rescue operations in the central municipality of Salgar are being wrapped up after a massive landslide hit the area and killed 83 people earlier this week.

"The first phase, which is the search and rescue operation, is coming to an end due to the immediate response of all relief agencies," Carlos Ivan Marquez, chief of the disaster response service, told local media.

Meanwhile, officials said that 146 households would need to be relocated soon as their their homes had been completely destroyed in the landslide.

According to the Ministry of Housing, 232 families are affected, with some 783 people in total.

President Juan Manuel Santos visited the disaster-stricken area on Tuesday and vowed support for the families affected by the disaster.

The landslide took place in Salgar, in Antioquia department in northwest Colombia, in the early hours Monday after heavy rains caused a nearby river to burst its banks. Endi