'At least a week' before mudslide victims recovered

Colombian rescue officials last night warned it would take at least a week to unearth about 30 people who were buried by a landslide as they changed from one bus to another because a mountain road was blocked.

Regional disaster agency chief John Freddy Rendon said he did not expect any survivors after the landslide between the towns of Giraldo and Canasgordas, northwest of the capital, Bogota. He said that the victims included children and pregnant women.

Witnesses described intense noise as first rocks and then earth swept over the road.

President Juan Manuel Santos visited the scene yesterday as his government tackled the aftermath of heavy rains which have triggered flooding that has claimed at least 74 lives in the country.