Venezuela expands search for the missing after deadly slide

Rescue workers in Venezuela are clearing rocks and mud from the streets of a north-central city that was hit by a massive landslide three days earlier

Rescuers worked to clear rocks and mud from the streets of a north-central city in Venezuela on Tuesday, three days after it was hit by a massive and deadly landslide, and expanded their search for any bodies buried under the sludge.

Officials said the slide in Las Tejerias killed at least 36 people but warned that the death toll could increase as bodies are found farther downstream from the hardest-hit neighborhoods. At least 60 people were said to be missing, and some local residents have joined search crews to look for them.

Magaly Colmenares said she was with a group of firefighters that recovered the body of her grandson Monday from a house swamped by mud. The corpse was taken to a health center that has been pressed into service as a morgue.

“He was buried with a man who tried to help him and his 3-month-old sister,” Colmenares said. “I found my angel, and we have to look for his little sister too.”

Officials said more than 300 homes, 15 businesses and a school were destroyed in Las Tejerias, which is located along Venezuela’s main industrial corridor.

In a rare public appearance, President Nicolás Maduro visited the city and toured affected neighborhoods Monday.

The socialist leader said everyone affected by the disaster would be given new homes, adding that the city of 50,000 would “rise like a phoenix.”

“Nobody will be abandoned,” Maduro said.

Maduro told journalists he would welcome international assistance, without giving further details. His administration has historically been reluctant to take humanitarian aid from Western nations, though it has accepted food and medical supplies from Russia and China.