An avalanche of mud struck bus in Colombia, killing at least 20 people after heavy rains battering the Andean nation caused a landslide, the government's disaster agency said today.
Downpours caused by the La Nina weather phenomenon have killed hundreds of people across Colombia and forced more than two million from their homes in what the government calls the worst natural disaster in the country's history.
Relief workers said a landslide smacked into a bus outside the city of Manizales, the capital of the coffee-producing Caldas department, late on Wednesday.
Twelve bodies have been recovered so far and eight are trapped under the rock and mud, they said.
Flooding in Colombia has caused billions of dollars in damages, destroyed infrastructure, submerged houses and killed crops and animals.
Colombia's weather office says La Nina will continue until June, but rains are expected to be less than previous months.
Reconstruction work could cost Latin America's four-ranked oil producer between $5 billion (€3.4 billion) and $7 billion, and some projects could take years.
Reuters