Dozens feared dead in Colombian mudslide

A least 24 bodies have now been recovered after a massive mudslide in northwest Colombia.

Heavy downpours over recent months prompted the sodden hillside overlooking a town to collapse on Sunday.

In total, it is feared more than a 100 locals may have been engulfed by the deluge of mud after it buried about 50 homes. In some cases residents used their bare hands in a desperate bid to find those missing.

The landslide happened in Bello, a suburb of Medellin, some 400 kilometres from the capital Bogota.

The scale of the damage could been seen from miles around. Emergency teams are still trying to locate possible survivors but only a handful have so far been found.

Earlier this year, rain and flooding forced some 1.5 million people from their homes in what the government called the worst natural disaster in Colombia’s history.

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