Landslide in Manizales: Prosecutor will investigate causes of the tragedy - Other Cities - Colombia

The sectional director of the Prosecutor’s Office in Caldas, Ángela María Bedoya, reported today that the entity will open a pre-military investigation to determine what could have led to the glide which was presented this Wednesday in Manizales and that left three people dead and seven families affected.

“We are on our way to determine if it was a natural event or if there could have been some negligence in the case. On the tour we did, we obtained information from the public indicating that there were complaints in the sector,” Bedoya said.

In the preliminary investigations, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, they will be to all the entities that may have had knowledge of the situation.

“We will be in the next few days with a specialized technical team, because, apparently, the affectation of the pipes is a fact that was not new in the sector and probably could have caused it,” added the director.

The rescue activities ended and the balance is three dead.

Photo:

City Hall of Manizales

An invitation to the community is not to generate rumors. The institutions will have to investigate what were the situations that asked to cause the detachment

For their part, the authorities reported after the Unified Command Post that they will await the pertinent investigation.

“An invitation to the community is not to generate rumors. The institutions will have to investigate what were the situations that asked to cause the detachment. We are doing all the steps to respond to those affected and to the people of Manizale,” said Mayor Carlos Mario Marín.

Landslide in Manizales.

Photo:

Search and Rescue Group

This is also in response to those who claim that This landslide could be due to situations similar to those that occurred in the Cervantes neighborhood in 2011 and which caused a tragedy that left 48 people dead.. In that case, it is presumed that a water pipe also burst and caused the earth to detach from the hillside. The case is still under investigation.

For his part, the director of the National Risk Management Unit, Eduardo José González, said that the public calamity was approved and that there will be support for the affected families.

“Next week we will present to the Ministry of Housing a project for families affected by this and other recent problems in the city,” he said.

This project will seek to manage 25 homes for these and other families who have lost their homes in recent days as a result of winter and a recent fire.

The search operations in the area have already been suspended and the yellow machinery will proceed to remove debris and reestablish road traffic in the area.

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Tragedy of Pereira: they create oversight for donations for the victims - Other Cities - Colombia

Behind the glide that buried several houses in the La Esneda neighborhood and Avenida del Río last week in Pereira and that left 17 people dead, hundreds of people have donated aid for the victims of this tragedy, hence an oversight committee was formed to ensure that donations are delivered to the most needy people.

Until now, more than 82 million pesos in cash, 50 tons of food and 1.5 tons of clothing have been collectedaccording to information from the Pereira Improvement Society.

Hence, the Government of Risaralda decided to form an oversight committee with the leaders of the affected communities, the Directorate of Disaster Risk Management and the first ladies of several municipalities in the department.

This is how the area where the landslide occurred was left.

Photo:

Municipality of Dosquebradas

All these aids will be delivered according to the census and with the leaders so that they reach all the people who need it.

“These grants will have an oversight where all the leaders, both from the River and from La Esneda, will be in charge of making the deliveries together with the Risk Management Directorate of Pereira and Dosquebradas. All these grants they will be delivered according to the census and with the leaders so that they reach all the people who need it,” said Nathalia Sierra, first lady of Risaralda.

The donations seek to provide food and everything necessary for some 470 people who were affected by the collapse. Some lost their homes and others had to be evicted due to the risk posed by the emergency zone.

“We made a collection center in the municipality and we filled a turbo truck and then people went to the main square to bring more aid. All the inhabitants of the municipality contributed to help La Esneda and El Río,” said Patricia Corrales, manager community of the municipality of Belén de Umbría and member of the supervisory committee.

Winter tragedy in Risaralda left 17 dead and 34 injured.

The social manager of the municipality of Marsella, Martha Isabel Duque, said that the people of her town came en masse to deliver their donations. “Even the street dwellers came to donate, they gave little coins and what they had. In total, 1,800,000 pesos were collected. In addition, we brought rice, beans, lentils, milk, groceries in general and top quality clothing; everything is new.”

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Landslide in Pereira: geologists say that tragedy is not a natural disaster - Other Cities - Colombia

At 6:20 a.m. last Tuesday, an avalanche of 4,000 cubic meters fell on the neighborhood The Esnedafrom twoquebradaslater it hit the Otún river and continued along until the streets 24 and 25 of the avenue of the River, in Pereiraleaving 17 dead and a dozen houses affected.

The report of the local authorities was that the tragedy had been caused because in the upper part of the mountain there was a ditch and an excessive increase in the rains, but the geologists who have studied these mountains for years confronted the affirmations and assured that this cannot be seen as a conjunctural fact.

The Colombian Association of Petroleum Geologists and Geophysicists (ACGGP) emphasized that “Disasters are not natural”and that Colombia needs a geologist per municipality so that floods and mass movements do not generate these losses of life.

Clemencia Gómez, president of the Board of Directors of the ACGGP, said that particularly in this emergency situations were combined by action or omission, both caused by man.

A part of the mountain fell into the Otún river and this caused a ‘bomb’ that destroyed the houses.

The problem is not the geology, but the vulnerability of locating ourselves on land like this. The Pereira catastrophe is not isolated. The same thing happened in Manizales and in Mocoa

“The problem is not the geology, but the vulnerability of locating ourselves on land like this. The Pereira catastrophe is not isolated. The same thing happened in Manizales and Mocoa. For the sensitive professionals of the land, it is very sad to know about the problems in the area, to be able to contribute to their solution and that these tragedies continue to occur, “said Gómez.

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The president added that public policies are lacking, since knowledge about the land they stay on top of officials’ desks and do not reach the communities. “We have not managed to permeate public policies. We make maps and studies that do not transcend, ”he assured.

Geologists had already warned that a tragedy like this was going to occur in this week’s disaster area in Pereira and Dosquebradas, Risaralda, because in 1926 and 1976 the slopes of that area of ​​the metropolitan area gave way. It also happened recently, in 2020, only the tragedy was not in a neighborhood, but on the La Romelia – El pollo variant and left four fatalities.

This was the area where the last victim (17) of the landslide in Pereira was rescued.

Photo:

Municipality of Dosquebradas

We cannot predict which one will come off. But there are several susceptible, Topaz, Low Dew, for example. There are many, because they were made at the same time as the growth of cities

According to Juan Mauricio Castaño, professor at the Technological University of Pereira (UTP), and member of the Risaralda Hydroclimatological Network and the Early Warning System, the vulnerability of those who live there, added to the constant rains, are the perfect scenario for a tragedy of these magnitudes to be repeated, as has already been repeated.

(Also read: History of the Colombian who plays in Ukraine, in the midst of war tension).

“The areas of high slopes, which in our mountain territory can be counted by hundreds, easily present this combination that would eventually end up in a landslide, but we cannot predict which of them is going to break off. What is known is that if there are intense rains, the probability of their occurrence increases,” explained Castaño.

“We cannot predict which one is going to come off. But there are several susceptible, Topaz, Low Dew, to name a few. There are many, because they were made at the same time as the growth of the cities”, said Castaño.

Three similar tragedies have occurred in this sector of the Otún River with intervals of between 45 and 50 years. These catastrophes have claimed more than 100 lives.

That probability was clearly identified after the 1976 avalanche, which left 80 dead. At that time 1,800 families were relocated, but later others arrived. This was explained by Ernesto Zuluaga, director of the Carder at that time, which was founded to avoid these disasters.

“After that tragedy, the Risaralda Regional Autonomous Corporation (Carder) was born. His main function was to solve the critical problems of the river, that was his task. Between the 1980s and the 1990s, 150 million dollars were obtained to relocate 1,800 families, stabilize slopes and others, several neighborhoods were created as a result. But it didn’t last,” Zuluaga said.

Over the years, Zuluaga maintains, Carder took on more responsibilities and what happened to the river became one of many issues. “I find it regrettable that the controls disappeared. People forget the tragedies and take the risks, they live there thinking that it will not happen again, but it is the responsibility of the authorities to exercise control to protect them”, she concludes.

(You can read: Patricia Nieto, chronicler of anonymous Colombia).

relocation

Although it is known that the immediate solution is to relocate families at risk, there is still no long-term policy.

Carder’s current director, Julio Gómez, said that illegal constructions complicate the situationbecause some relocate and others return.

Apparently, the tragedy was caused by a saturation of the land after more than 12 hours of rain.

This is a summation of errors and a historical accumulation of omissions from various parts

“It is a difficult issue because everyone reacts to an eviction. This is a sum of errors and a historical accumulation of omissions from various parts,” Gómez pointed out, adding that in the area there are still some 2,000 families to relocate, almost the same number that were transferred to other neighborhoods in 1986, after the tragedy of 1976. .

The issue is that the threat is in the whole department and the first rainy season has not yet started. In the same risk situation as the more than 100 families affected by the recent disaster are another 55,000 throughout Risaralda which, according to the director of Carder, are located along the Consotá river, the Otún river, the Mina Rica creek, the San Jorge and on the Cauca River.

LAURA USMA CARDONA
For the time
PEREIRA

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Landslide in Pereira: experts assure that the tragedy was avoidable - Other Cities - Colombia

At 6:20 in the morning of this February 8, a slope of land that fell on the Otún river destroyed at least six houses, leaving -at the moment- 16 dead and is the cause of one of the largest natural tragedies in The Department of Risaralda. But she is not the only one who has lived in the apartment in this area.

Six blocks below where this tragedy occurred, between 33rd and 34th streets and Avenida del Río in Pereira, In 1976, a similar event occurred that left 80 dead.. And 50 years earlier, in 1926, there was another similar tragedy. A few meters below where the railway was, another landslide killed many people. Press clippings from El Diario, at that time, speak of ‘innumerable deaths’.

Repeating the cycle almost every 50 years, Pereira and Dosquebradas relive the inclemencies of nature in flesh and life. According to what was reported by the risk management authorities, the trigger for the collapse was “a rupture in the ditch channel that, when it collapsed, generated an accumulation and constant flow of water towards the hillside.”

Some people point out that what happened was predictable, because of their background. However, Juan Mauricio Castaño, professor at the Technological University of Pereira and member of the Risaralda Hydroclimatological Network and the Early Warning System, went further and assured that it was, but that there were multiple factors.

Three similar tragedies have occurred in this sector of the Otún River with intervals of between 45 and 50 years. These catastrophes have claimed more than 100 lives.

“The configuration of threats of landslides, floods or other circumstances, combined with people located in unsuitable areas, are input to say that the disaster is probable. Thus, if one looks for guilt, it must be extended to the creation of cities, because have done on hillsides, not only Dosquebradas and Pereira, many in the region and the country,” said the teacher.That probability was clearly identified after the avalanche of 1976. At that time, 1,800 families were relocated, but over time others arrived.

This is how the newspaper El Diario recorded the third anniversary of the Otún River tragedy in 1926.

People forget the tragedies and take the risks, they live there thinking that it will not happen again, but it is the responsibility of the authorities to exercise control to protect them

“After that tragedy, the Risaralda Regional Autonomous Corporation (Carder) was born. Its main function was to solve the critical problems of the river. Between the 1980s and 1990s, 150 million dollars were obtained to relocate 1,800 families, stabilize slopes and others, several neighborhoods were created as a result. But it didn’t last,” said Ernesto Zuluaga, director of Carder at the time.

Over the years, Zuluaga maintains, Carder took on new responsibilities and what happened to the river became one of many issues.

“I find it unfortunate that the controls disappeared. People forget the tragedies and take the risks, they live there thinking that it will not happen again, but it is the responsibility of the authorities to exercise control to protect them,” added Zuluaga.

This is what the area looks like this February 9, without the rain.

For his part, the current director of the Carder, Julio Gómez, pointed out: “Unfortunately, the illegal constructions that are on the hillside make it discharge its sewage. A slope of almost 90 degrees, with rain, sewage and farming activities has all the conditions to cause a phenomenon like this“said the official.

Gómez commented that the municipal administrations, in this case those of Pereira and Dosquebradas, are responsible for preventing illegal settlements.

“It is a difficult issue, because everyone reacts to an eviction. It is complex and the municipalities do not have the resources. When these tragedies arrive, we begin to look for those responsible without recognizing that it is a sum of errors and a historical accumulation of omissions from various parties. Gomez noted.

The community was not unaware of the risk of the collapse occurring, but they assure that they have no other options to locate themselves.

“The million dollar question is how we live now with that fear, but one cannot leave because: where? We would have to go to pay rent and the government does not help with anything. This was an invasion 60 years ago, and since then they have been relocating us,” said Pedro Lugo, an inhabitant of the sector who lost all his business and part of his house.

The tragedy was caused by a saturation of the land after more than 12 hours of rain.

At one point they did talk about moving through the floodwaters of the river, but that has been quiet for a long time

In addition, the communities assure that they had noticed some changes in the slope, and some feared the worst, which finally ended up happening.

María Camila Restrepo, a resident of the sector, pointed out that in recent days they had seen a crack, but many did not pay attention to it. She too, she talked about a relocation that they were promised and that has never come. “At one point they did talk about moving through the floodwaters of the river, but that has been quiet for a long time,” she added.

In this regard, the Pereira Mayor’s Office indicated that since 2020 they are working to recover the territory. “We have made, from 2020 to date, 131 urban control visits and we have recovered 283 meters. This, added to the Otún river boardwalk project, a project that includes in one of its phases the relocation of families in the area they said.

Now, after the tragedy, they announced support for those affected. “In Pereira we evacuated 15 houses to avoid the risks. From now on we will give support to temporary shelters or hotels. Of course we think, in the long term, in a process of relocating these families,” said Mayor Carlos Maya.

Winter tragedy in Risaralda left 16 dead and 34 injured..

For its part, the Mayor’s Office of Dosquebradas, where the La Esneda neighborhood was affected, indicated that in 2021 71 relocation processes were carried out and that they hope to continue with them this year.

“The national government is going to help us with leases and other aid. We are going to continue knocking on doors to be able to transfer the 52 families that we have to evacuate in this sector“added Mayor Diego Ramos.

Meanwhile, the National Risk Management Unit (UNGRD) said yesterday that they will also provide long-term support.

“Complementary works and studies will come to the channel that passes above. We are going to jointly start studies for the intervention. In addition, with a view to the future, we will review the relocation of families, which these studies will tell us,” said the director of the UNGRD Eduardo Jose Gonzalez.

They are only taking a census of where there was damage or they are already dead; that they also help those of us who are alive

Finally, Angelly Granadas, a resident of the sector on 30th Street, demands that the support also be for surrounding areas that are also at high risk, not only in the affected houses.

“At this time, We are in a very difficult situation, we have children, we are mothers who are heads of households and we have not received help from the Mayor’s Office because they have not surveyed us, according to them, we are not in a high-risk sector. They are only taking a census of where there was damage or they are already dead; that they also help those of us who are alive,” said the woman.

Grenada added that he hopes they will be relocated soon and avoid further tragedies. “This already happened 50 years ago and you (Government) cannot let there be another tragedy to act there,” he noted.

Continue the search for possible survivors in the area

At this time, search and rescue efforts continue for missing persons at the scene. Relief agencies reported that there are two missing persons in Pereira and another two in Dosquebradas. The Minister of the Interior, Daniel Palacio, will visit the emergency zone this morning.

Although there is still no census of the victims, seven families are housed in a school near the area where the tragedy occurred.

LAURA USMA CARDONA
Special for WEATHER in PEREIRA
On twitter: @Laurau_C

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Landslide in Pereira: what lies behind the winter tragedy - Other Cities - Colombia

Fifteen dead, including three minors, 34 injured and more than 100 people affected was on Tuesday night the preliminary balance of the tragedy that he experienced since morning Risaraldadue to heavy rains.

A downpour caused a landslide that buried six houses and affected another 20 in the sector of The Esnedaon the border between Pereira and Dosquebradas, and also caused the overflow of the Otún River.

(Also: Landslide in Pereira buried several houses, 15 dead)

The emergency, according to the inhabitants of the sector, occurred around 6:25 in the morning, and since then the rescue work began, led by emergency agencies, accompanied by the community, but these had to be suspended in several opportunities because in the capital of Risaralda, it practically did not stop raining all day.

The mayor of Pereira, Carlos Mayanpointed out that about 25 years ago a similar emergency occurred in the area, which suffers from rising rivers during the rainy seasons.

(Also read: The heartbreaking stories of the survivors of the Pereira tragedy)

Winter tragedy in Risaralda left 15 dead and 34 injured.

“The banks of the Otún River have been invaded many times and although we have evicted it so that the families do not experience that risk, many people return. Now we are focused on recovering the bodies and finding more survivors, and then we will think about relocation, “said the local president.

However, this is not an irregular neighborhood or an invasion and the sector has always been recognized by the local authorities of Pereira.

According to the Mayor’s Office, the tragedy occurred due to saturation of the land, after more than 12 continuous hours of rain.

“The triggering factor of the emergency was a rupture in the canal of the ditch that, when it collapsed, generated an accumulation and constant flow of water towards the hillside,” they reported from the administration.

(You may be interested in: Tragedy in Pereira: how and where to help those affected by the collapse)

The Dosquebradas firefighters, who were the first to arrive at the scene of the tragedy, since the area borders both municipalities, pointed out that the risk of a major disaster in the area continues as the river flow is still very high.

That is why they evacuated all the houses located two blocks from the affected sector.
Due to the large number of injured people, the hospital network declared a yellow alert. One of the hospitals where they have received more patients is the San Jorge hospital, from where a preliminary report was delivered.

“Among the injured there are two in surgery, one with a diagnosis of pneumothorax and another with trauma to the lower limbs with cardiovascular risk,” reported the hospital manager, Maria Ellen Ruiz.

There was no record of a tragedy like these almost five years ago in the Coffee Region, when the rains caused a landslide in April 2017, in Manizales, which left 17 people dead. And the most recent precedent in the country was in Mallama, Nariño, when a landslide in November 2021 also left 17 victims.

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The shocking images of the winter tragedy in Pereira.

the faces of tragedy

Families, homes and businesses were destroyed and buried in the rubble. The stories heard amid the rush of relief agencies and the community helping to search for survivors or fatalities are shocking.

“Three uncles, cousins ​​and nephews lived in that area. My niece was saved because she was awake, but the girl (her daughter) died because the wall of the house fell while she was still in bed. That is very hard that one has to see the family like this”, said one of the neighbors of the place.

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One of her uncles also died of this woman, and she has four other relatives in the San Rafael de Pereira clinic.

Other families did not lose one of their members, but lost everything they had. That is the case of Pedro Lugo, who lived with his wife and his children in one of the houses on Avenida del Río and Calle 26.

Of his business, a junkyard, he only has memories. “The collapse took everything where my business was, I was left with nothing, but thank God my family and I are alive,” she narrated.

Winter tragedy in Risaralda left 15 dead and 34 injured.

Lugo pointed out that at 6:30 this morning everything was screaming and desolation. “When we went out to see what happened, people were running everywhere. I approached and we managed to rescue several, but later the authorities arrived and we let them do their thing.

It was very sad to see that you lost your lifelong neighbors,” said the man who has lived in this sector of the Risaraldense capital for more than 50 years.

A few blocks from the scene of the events, concern and sadness also abound. Two blocks down from the place lives José Quintero, who lost several members of his family.

“My son-in-law and brother died, and my daughter is in a very serious hospital. When I went down and saw all that destroyed it was very hard. My son-in-law had a little store and my daughter was lying down because they get up very early to make arepas; she is delicate, but fine”, commented Quintero.

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The authorities expect this Wednesday, from 6 am, to continue with the search, since it is not ruled out that there are more missing persons, and debris removal, and they have said that they will take measures to relocate some families who were affected. But the jobs will depend on the state of the weather.

LAURA USMA CARDONA
For the time
Pereira

Landslide in Pereira: stories of the survivors of the tragedy - Other Cities - Colombia

About 6:26 in the morning, A rumble, accompanied by mud, trees and stones, stole the tranquility of the inhabitants of the La Esneda neighborhoods, in Dosquebradas, and of the inhabitants located on Avenida del Río, in Pereira. So far, that landslide has claimed the lives of 14 people and there are 30 more who are injured, some seriously.

Families, homes and businesses were destroyed and buried in the rubble. The stories heard amid the rush of relief agencies and the community helping to search for survivors or fatalities are shocking.

The heavy rains began at 5:00 pm on Monday and lasted for more than 12 hours. The only thing that made its sound remain in the background was the thunder of the rocks that hit the floor and the walls of the houses in the sector, as narrated by María Camila Restrepo, a resident of the sector.

The shocking images of the winter tragedy in Pereira, where a landslide fell on several houses and claimed the lives of 11 people, so far.

“When we least expected the house began to shake and we felt the smacks of the rocks, we went out to see what was happening, but we did not expect one of these things. When we saw the river was overflowing, houses were flooded, others were on the ground. People began to screaming for help and we managed to see how that came and covered other houses,” Restrepo told El Tiempo.

In front, buried, were the neighbors of all his life. “There was a store and bakery there, behind it was the owner of all that lot that had a garden, also dogs, cats and piscos. Also, a close-knit family that lost their grandfather, who was just turning 80 today” added the woman.

My niece was saved because she was awake, but the girl (her daughter) died because the wall of the house fell while she was still in bed

“Three uncles, cousins ​​and nephews lived in that area. My niece was saved because she was awake, but the girl (her daughter) died, because the wall of the house fell while she was still in bed. That is very hard for one to have to see the family like this”, said one of the neighbors of the place.

One of her uncles also died of this woman, and she has four other relatives in the San Rafael de Pereira clinic.

Other families did not lose one of their members, but lost everything they had. That is the case of Pedro Lugo, who lived with his wife and his children in one of the houses on Avenida del Río and Calle 26.

The shocking images of the winter tragedy in Pereira, where a landslide fell on several houses and claimed the lives of 11 people, so far.

Of his business, a junkyard, he only has memories. “The collapse took everything where my business was, I was left with nothing, but thank God my family and I are alive,” she narrated.

Firefighters rescuing one of the people buried in the mud and debris.

Photo:

Dosquebradas firefighters

Lugo pointed out that at 6:30 this morning everything was screaming and desolation. “When we went out to see what happened, people ran everywhere. I approached and managed to rescue several, but later the authorities arrived and we let them do their thing. It was very sad to see that we lost the neighbors of a lifetime” , said the man who has lived in this sector of the Risaraldense capital for more than 50 years.

A few blocks from the scene of the events, concern and sadness also abound. Two blocks down from the place lives Don José Quintero, who lost several members of his family.

“My son-in-law and brother died and my daughter is in the hospital in a very serious condition. When I went downstairs and saw all that destroyed, it was very hard. My son-in-law had a little store and my daughter was lying down because they get up very early to make arepas; she is delicate, but fine,” Quintero said.

For the moment, The authorities continue with the search and removal of debris and have said that they will take measures to relocate some families who were affected.. It should be noted that there were six completely buried houses, four on the Pereira side and two on the Dosquebradas side, however, there are more than 20 houses that were affected.

LAURA USMA CARDONA
Special for WEATHER in PEREIRA
On twitter: @Laurau_C

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