Toll in deadly Colombia mudslide climbs to 44

MANIZALES—Searchers on Tuesday recovered more bodies from the debris of a massive weekend mudslide here, raising the death toll to 44, authorities said.

The mudslide in Manizales, a city of 350,000 some 287 kilometers (178 miles) west of Bogota, swept through the Cervantes neighborhood early Saturday, demolishing as many as 14 houses.

The bodies of two people were found during the course of the morning, said Sandra Calvo, a spokeswoman for Colombia’s Risk Management Office.

“We still estimate that 11 people are missing,” she said.

Rescue work was briefly interrupted Tuesday morning due to rainfall.

Scores of Colombians were still awaiting news of loved ones buried since Saturday, as the likelihood of finding more survivors diminished by the hour.

State weather monitors warn that the heavy rain that has been soaking Colombia since September will last through the first months of 2012 due to the cyclical La Nina weather phenomenon.