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Rescuers, locals dig for Colombia flood victims, 254 die
Families and rescuers searched desperately on Sunday through mud-plastered rubble for victims of flooding and landslides in Colombia that have killed 254 people, injured hundreds and devastated entire neighborhoods.
Several rivers burst their banks near the southwestern city of Mocoa in the early hours of Saturday, sending water, mud and debris crashing down streets and into houses as people slept.
Volunteers and firefighters tended to 82 bodies downstream in the town of Villagarzon and said many corpses were still caught in debris.
"We had to recover them ourselves. We think we'll find more," Villagarzon Mayor Jhon Ever Calderon told Reuters. He said the town had no coffins or sanitary storage.
Many families in Mocoa stayed up through the night to search through the debris, despite the lack of electricity in the city.
"I need to know where they are, if they are injured or where to find them," sobbed Maria Lilia Tisoy, 37, looking through the rubble for her two daughters, one pregnant, and a 4-year-old granddaughter.
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