哥伦比亚山体滑坡61人遇害

At least 61 people are dead following the disaster in Colombia's northwest region of Salgar. The country's president, Juan Manuel Santos is there to assess the damage of the deadly mudslide Monday. Authorities are expecting the number of casualties to rise.

President Juan Manuel Santos traveled to the region to assess the damage and continue to offer support.

"We need to start the process of identifying people who are missing. Right now we don't know how many people are missing. There are close to 166 people searching for missing people from various relief agencies from the Red Cross, firefighters, from the civil defence forces of the police, and of course the military," said Juan Manuel Santos, Colombian President.

Many were asleep and didn't have a chance to gather their family members before they were hit by the landslide. Search and rescue operations continue. President Juan Manuel Santos has called for emergency relief that will provide food and water for families.

The town of 18,000 sits amid one of Colombia's major coffee-growing regions. Former president Alvaro Uribe, who spent much of his childhood in Salgar, announced on Twitter he was heading to the town to help the victims. Many are low-income families who had improvised huts along the ravine.