Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos says the mudslide that obliterated part of the city of Mocoa has killed at least 293 people and a large number of people are still missing.
"This morning, 467 people have reported relatives to be missing. Of those, 153 have been located, 119 of them alive but, unfortunately, 34 of them deceased," said Santos in a statement in Bogota on Wednesday.
Although the president provided no concrete figures, the number of complaints suggests that there could be more than 200 people buried under tonnes of rocks and mud that swept into and over several Mocoa neighbourhoods.
The death toll from the mudslides and flooding in Mocoa, the capital of the southern Colombian province of Putumayo, now stands at 293, the coroner's office said Wednesday.
