Medellin, Colombia:
Emergency crews worked through the night in a frantic bid to rescue some 145 people believed missing in a landslide in Colombia, with 13 people confirmed dead as of early on Monday.
Rescuers used their bare hands to claw through the debris after a wall of mud buried or damaged at least 30 houses yesterday near Medellin, following the worst downpours to hit the country in decades which have left nearly 200 dead and 1.5 million homeless.
"We have found 13 bodies so far...including that of a 13-year-old boy," disaster official John Freddy Rendon told reporters.
Red Cross operations deputy director Cesar Uruena said some 200 emergency personnel had worked without interruption since the mudslide struck the Gabriela neighbourhood of Medellin, the country's second-largest city, some 245 kms northwest of the capital Bogota.
"They are working by hand. We are in the first 48 hours, the period in which all efforts are focused on saving lives," he told AFP.
An initial count suggested there might be as many as 200 people missing in the disaster, which occurred at lunchtime when families traditionally have guests over, and many of the three-story homes were believed to be full.
But an overnight census by Red Cross workers determined that some 145 people were missing. Three people have been rescued alive, Uruena said.
Many people fled the area fearing further landslides, with dozens spending the night outdoors covered with blankets, while others took refuge in a temporary shelter in a nearby community centre.
About 300 residents of the neighbourhood rushed to search for missing friends and many tried to help rescuers pull away the rubble, bit by twisted bit.
Some 50,000 cubic meters (1.7 million cubic feet) of earth slid down over the homes, Redon said.
Medellin lies in a valley and many poorer neighbourhoods of sometimes precariously-built houses are stacked up the mountainsides where they are highly vulnerable to heavy weather.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos hurried home from a regional summit in Argentina to lead the response to the disaster, and was due to visit the scene later today.
His government was weighing a state of emergency hoping to free up more funds for the country's widespread weather and flood-related damage.