By Jose Serrano (staff@latinospost.com) | First Posted: May 19, 2015 12:10 AM EDT

The Colombia town of Salgar was seriously affected after a mudslide killed at least 61 people and left another 37 injured Monday morning.

Carlos Ivan Martinez, head of the National Disaster Unit, initially counted 58 deaths hours after the flood engulfed the alpine town at about 3 a.m. local time, adding that an unknown amount of people are still missing. By Monday evening, officials interviewed by Colombia news website El Tiempo confirmed the death toll had risen over 60.

"It was rocks and tree trunks everywhere, construction worker Diego Agudelo told The Associated Press. "The river took out everything in its path."

Survivors reportedly yelled "The river! The river!" as their homes crumbled into the Libordiana ravine. According to locals, the banks along the creek were high-risk areas mainly inhabited by poor families.

President Juan Manuel Santos travelled to Salgar - located about 60 miles southwest of Medellin - immediately mounted a search and rescue operation. Santos said several children lost parents but that "we have to handle this disaster as best we can to move forward."

First responders included the Colombia Air Force and neighbor fire departments from cities Garden, Andes, and Hispania. Survivors were airlifted by Black Hawk helicopters out of the area in fear of another mudslide. Three of the injured were transferred to Medellin for critical injuries while numerous others were recovering in a hospital in Ciudad Bolivar.

More than 150 disasters have hit Colombia over the last 40 years, killing more than 32,000 people in that time, according to the Inter-American Development Bank. Monday's tragedy is the single deadliest event in the country since a 6.2-magnitude earthquake in Armenia claimed 1,900 lives in 1999.

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