Landslide kills 11 in southern Colombia, others missing

BOGOTA (Reuters) – A landslide in Colombia's Narino province, close to the border with Ecuador, has killed 11 people, the country's disaster relief agency (UNGRD) said on Tuesday, adding that dozens more were hurt or missing.

The landslide, which followed heavy rain, took place in the rural municipality Mallama and destroyed two buildings, the UNGRD said in a message via Twitter.

As well as those who died, the landslide left 10 people injured, while some 15 to 20 people remain missing, the agency said.

UNGRD director Eduardo Jose Gonzalez "will travel first thing in the morning to the municipality of Mallama, Narino" to the site of the landslide and has ordered the search and rescue team be deployed, it said.

Rescue operations were suspended because of the potential for more landslides due to rain and will be resumed on Wednesday morning.

Landslides are common in mountainous Colombia, especially during the rainy season and in areas where precarious informal housing and narrow roadways are constructed on deforested Andean hillsides.