The Colombian government issued a disaster declaration late Tuesday as the death toll from a landslide over the weekend continued to rise, dpa reported.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos earlier Tuesday visited the area where 36 people were killed in a mudslide as rescue workers searched for another 88 people reported missing.
"What happened in Bello is in a certain way, and it pains me to say it, the story of a foretold tragedy. There are too many high risk areas in the country, especially in Medellin," Santos said.
On Sunday, thousands of tonnes of earth slid onto 45 homes in low-income neighbourhood La Gabriela, built on a hillside in Bello, near Colombia's second-largest city, Medellin.
The heavy rains, which were blamed for the mudslide, have devastated the country in recent months. More than 200 people have died, some 246 others were injured and more than 100 were missing in floods and multiple landslides prompted by the rains.
Residents claimed they had been warning officials for weeks of the risks of a water leak from a nearby rubbish dump.
Santos urged those living in high risk areas in Bello to move to safer places.
"I have been shown places where the same thing that happened Sunday can happen again, and we have to prevent that from happening. Let us evacuate and protect the lives of our compatriots," he said.
Close to 700 rescue workers have been deployed in the area. They are working side by side with the loved ones of those who remain missing. As time goes by, hopes of finding more survivors has receded.
The mudslide was blamed on heavy rains, said to be the worst in four decades. However, it had not rained in recent days in the vicinity of the disaster zone.
Some 2,000 homes have been destroyed and 275,000 structures damaged during the rainy season.
...