At least nine people, including five children, died on Oct. 21 when a landslide buried three homes in a low income neighborhood in a central Colombian town.
The landslide was caused by heavy rains that fell on the city of Barrancabermeja, where the country’s main petroleum refinery is located.
A local resident, Diego Oliveros, rushed to see if he could help victims immediately after the landslide occurred. “So, I came to see what happened and I grabbed a shovel and I started to dig to find people and we pulled out three. And, I left because I couldn’t go on, because it’s hard to see all those people buried there,” he said.
Landslides are common in Colombia’s mountain regions, especially during the rainy season and in areas where informal homes are built next to deforested land.
