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At least eight children are said to be trapped in northwestern Colombia after a landslide buried a school on Thursday, local authorities said.
Video footage shared on social media showed dozens of villagers with shovels trying to clear a pile of felled trees and debris.
Daniel Quintero, the mayor of Medellin, the capital of the Antioquia department where the landslide took place, warned on Twitter of a landslide that buried a school called El Porvenir.
“First information speaks of eight children trapped,” he said.
The message included video footage of people begging for earthmoving equipment.
Eliana Rincones, the school’s only teacher, told journalists that 22 children were present at the time of the landslide.
“We were on break when we suddenly heard something very loud; we all turned (to look) and within seconds we were all running,” she said.
“We didn’t even know where we were walking.”
The deluge was the result of heavy rains that hit much of Colombia due to the La Nina cyclical weather phenomenon.
According to the meteorological institute, the rains are expected to last until September.
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