Colombia: Landslide kills 11, many more injured

A landslide triggered by heavy rains has killed several people in western Colombia.

At least 11 people have died in a landslide in Colombia’s western Narino province, according to authorities, with dozens more hurt or missing.

The South American country’s disaster relief agency (UNGRD) said late on Tuesday that the landslide occurred after heavy rains in the rural town of Mallama.

Two buildings were destroyed during the event. UNGRD Director Eduardo Joze Gonzalez is scheduled to travel "first thing in the morning" to the site of the landslide. However, rescue operations were suspended on Tuesday because of the potential for more landslides due to rain and were set to resume on Wednesday morning.

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

In 2017, more than 200 people were killed in mudslides triggered by torrential rains in the city of Mocoa in neighbouring Putumayo province.