国际英语新闻：Colombian rescuers find 53 bodies after landslide

BOGOTA, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- Colombian rescuers have found 53 bodies after a landslide in the northwest of Colombia, official sources said on Thursday.

Regional Director of the Administrative Department for the Prevention and Attention to Disasters John Freddy Rendon told Xinhua that to the moment the rescuers have found 53 bodies, who were buried in a landslide in Bellon town of Antioquia department.

"Due to the pouring rains, the rescue work has been suspended several times," said Rendon.

A technical report said Thursday that "the humidity and the rain waters supersaturated the soil in the area," which provoked the landslide.

Last Sunday, some 50,000 cubic meters of earth fell on the municipality of Bellon, burying between 30 and 50 homes which were occupied by between 124 and 145 people.

After a visit to the affected area, which the rain season has left 1.7 million victims, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos declared the country in a state of social, economic, and environmental emergency and requested the local authorities to evacuate the area, as the experts had said it was a high risk zone.

The rain season has affected 665 municipalities in 28 of the 32 departments in Colombia this year. More than 200 people have died due to the rains.