A landslide buried an intermunicipal transport bus that was moving along the road that led from Pereira drives to Quibdó, and that he had left Cali at 12:30 am bound for the municipalities of Condoto and Quibdó (shocked) with at least 25 passengers.
The events occurred around 5:00 in the morning this Sunday in the municipality of Pueblo Rico (Risaralda) and it is still unknown how many people were trapped.
“I activated the safety brake and looked in the rearview mirror, Ranran (his partner) was already covered by the rain of rocks. So I sped up and didn’t see him again. The car was totally covered, I also saw a motorcycle and a truck that managed to be saved. I am shocked, it is not easy to see a driver like that and all the passengers,” said one of the drivers who was passing through the area at the time of the collapse.
According to the travel ticket, the bus planned to pick up six more passengers in the municipality of Cartago (Valle), so the number of people trapped could amount to 31.
The bus belongs to the company Arauca. Residents of the area shared images in which they helped those trapped with pikes, shovels and hoes.
From the Government of Risaralda they confirmed to EL COLOMBIANO that The residents of the area managed to rescue three people alive who were left in the middle of the avalanche and that they were transferred to the municipal hospital of Pueblo Rico and one of them was sent from there to a medical center in Pereira. For now, their forecasts are stable.
“Since this morning we have been focused on the rescue actions in Pueblo Rico. Together with the Departmental Coordination of Risk Management and relief agencies we are in the area to lead PMU and put all our capabilities to save lives”said the governor of Risaralda, Victor Manuel Tamayo.
Preliminary versions indicate that the 31 people who occupied the intermunicipal transport bus were unharmed. This information would have been delivered by relief agencies to local media, who point out that the rescued are being transferred to care centers for medical evaluation.